Print Matters

The Fourth Stall

2011-09-26T18:14:00.000-05:00

Back in Happy Days, Fonzi's "office" was the restroom at Arnold's. It isn't too far a stretch that Chris Rylander's book would also have an empty restroom stall as the center of the action in the novel The Fourth Stall.

Sixth graders Mac (the problem solver) and Vince (the financial adviser) formed a business helping kids get things they need or want. Of course, many kids wish that bullies would leave them alone. For a price, Mac and Vince help these kids with their problems. Why? They love the Chicago Cubs and hope to purchase tickets for a possible World Series appearance.

Unfortunately, everything does not go as planned. "Staples," a bully of mythic proportions, has re-emerged and has shut down the boys' operations. Also, money is missing from the boys' profits. The boys engage the services of some really shady characters in order to beat the bully at his own game.

While I thought the premise was humorous, I thought the story got a bit bogged down along the way. However, those Wimpy Kid aficionados will probably like it. A sequel is set to come out next year.

Woods Runner

2011-09-21T14:56:00.000-05:00

My favorite genre is historical fiction which is probably 180 degrees from what my students like to read. However, I also like Gary Paulsen, and there ARE students who are fans of his.Therefore, I decided to combine both "likes" and read Woods Runner.

Set during the American Revolution, thirteen year old Samuel faces the horrors of war when he finds settlements of people savagely killed by British soldiers and Iroquois. Fortunately, he discovers that his parents are not included in the death toll, but are captives instead. As he begins his search for his parents, there are a series of consequences that help him achieve his goal. Annie, whose parents have been killed by Hessians, helps give him a reason to continue. Abner, a tinker, gives him a ride to New York where his parents are imprisoned. Samuel then unexpectedly encounters his mother on a New York street and learns that his father is in poor health in prison. Then Abner's friend, Matthew, rescues the family with his boat and takes them away from New York.

Sprinkled through the narrative are short sections where Paulsen explains the historical aspects of the novel.

There's enough grisly details to attract some readers and enough adventure for others. I just hope readers can appreciate the historical quality of the book and really enjoy it.

Paradise

2011-09-18T10:28:00.001-05:00

I really liked Jill Alexander's book The Sweetheart of Prosper County that appeared on the Lone Star List a couple of years ago. I was very excited to read her new title, Paradise.

Paisley Tillery is a major disappointment to her small-town mom with a bad reputation. Paisley refuses to be the beauty queen her mom has envisioned for her sister, Lacey, and instead is a drummer in the high school band. Unbeknownst to her mother, Paisley also plays drums for the Waylon Slider Band and hopes to hit it big at the Texapalooza music festival in Austin. There's only one problem. The band needs a lead singer.

In walks gorgeous hunk, "Paradise." Paisley anoints him the name because it where he is from. Of course, the two become romantically involved even though he almost ruins everything when he tries to be the star and the band merely backup.

While much of the story follows the expected narrative arc, the not-so-pat ending throws a wrench is what would have been a run-of-the mill story. Alexander, however, has foreshadowed the event even though it still comes as a surprise.

I liked Paradise. Paisley is a three-dimensional young woman who could have easily become the stereotypical small town girl. Alexander plays close to her roots taking on the small-minded Texas town that is unfortunately so true.

One problem. Alexander has the story set near Dripping Springs in East Texas. Dripping Springs is near Austin. While those New York editors at Feiwel and Friends may not notice, we native Texans sure do!!

The Fortune of Carmen Navarro

2011-09-15T17:23:00.000-05:00

My spirit is wild,yes--but I am no fool. I love the boys but I will not belong to any one of them. I am free. Always free. And if I leave, it will be because my voice has given us a chance to have a better life.

Jen Bryant has crafted a modern novel based on the opera Carmen. In this rendition, however, Carmen Navarro works at the Quikmart selling cigarettes rather than making them. Her Don Jose is Ryan, a young cadet from Valley Forge Military Academy. As in the opera, Ryan risks everything dear to him in his single-minded pursuit of Carmen.

Fortunately, the ending is not quite as tragic as the opera. I wonder, however, how many readers will know the story of Carmen?

The Lost Songs

2011-08-30T16:39:00.001-05:00

What is it about South Carolina that just gets into your soul and won't let go? I found it interesting that Caroline Cooney got her inspiration for The Lost Songs from a place called "Paradise" where she had volunteered, much like the town of Chalk in the novel. Here's what she wrote in the Author's Note:

Everybody agreed that the name Paradise had been given to the community because generations ago, women there had taken in laugndry, and they sand as they worked, and when people drove in to pick up their laundry, the singing sounded like paradise. I loved that story. I never verified it. I just went home and stared to write. What had those women been singing? What songs had kept them going over the years and through the labor?

I wrote the songs in this book so easily that I felt as if I had been singing them all along. And perhaps I had. I think the yearing for God to come in person and help in time of trouble is universal. And I strongly believe that another yearning in each of us is the desire to help others. There's nothing as satisfying as lending a hand. I loved writing this book, and I loved all the people, and the songs they sang, and the help they gave.

Sixteen-year-old Lutie Painter lives in fear that people will learn of her mother, Saravette, a woman on crack and crystal meth who has broken all of the commandments. Lutie lives in two worlds - the safe world where her aunts live and in Chalk, a rough neighborhood where her family is from. It is from Chalk that Lutie has learned "The Laundry List," a series of songs shared by her grandmother that have been passed down to her like priceless heirlooms. These are so precious, in fact, that Lutie is reluctant to share them with her beloved choir teacher, Mr. Gregg.

Doria, the choir accompanist, feels like the total outsider. While everyone is nice to her, no one includes her in their activities. Doria is from Connecticut and is a gifted organist who is paid to perform each Sunday at church. She has a secret crush on Kelvin, but Kelvin only has eyes for Lutie.It's when Doria volunteers to serve food in Chalk that her life changes.

Train grew up with Lutie and Kelvin in Chalk. Train aspires to be like his older brother DeRade who is currently in prison for blinding another boy.

Everybody knew that Train was under orders from DeRade to go off the track. Kelvin did not want to be there when it happened. He sensed desperation in Train's hot jittery presence. Train probably felt cornered. He needed to catch up to DeRade or else surpass him.

When Train sees Doria in Chalk, he finds his target. Doria, on the other hand, is totally oblivious to the possible danger.

The story is rich with characters such as the minister, Miss Veola, with the hot pink church, the aunts Tamilka and Grace, and MeeMaw, Lutie's mentor. The South Carolina setting seeps into your inner being like so many other books by South Carolina authors.

This isn't a story of the Sweet Bye 'n Bye. There's a grittiness to it that provides the suspense. Will Train harm the unsuspecting Doria? Will Lutie share the lost songs? Will Kelvin notice Doria?What will happen to Saravette?

Just like acts in a play, each day lists the action to follow. There's a beauty in the story, a beauty in the characters, and a beauty in the setting - just like a fine Carolina morning.

(This book is not yet published. It is set to go on sale October 11, 2011. I read the advanced reader's copy that I picked up at the American Library Conference in New Orleans.)

Forgive My Fins

2011-08-06T19:01:00.000-05:00

In some circles, "chick-lit" gets a bad rap. It doesn't stop girls from reading it though. I think it's a right of passage. Girls will read it until they realize they are ready for something else. Some never get over reading it. Why have Harlequin romances been around for so long? Why was Twilight such a hit? Was it the vampires? No, it's the love story.

In Forgive My Fins, Lily has a secret she has not shared with any of her high school classmates. She's actually a mermaid. Not any mermaid, however; she's a Thalassinian princess. (Think Little Mermaid here, folks.) Lily has fallen head-over-heels with Brody, the BMOC. She's adored him for THREE YEARS. She knows it is true love, and he will want to spend his life under the sea with her. Unfortunately, Brody only thinks of her as a friend, and Lily cannot bring herself to confess her love to him.

Quince Fletcher, her neighbor, on the other hand is a PAIN! He loves to torment Lily and sets up a secret meeting between Lily and Brody. At least that is what Lily thinks. In the dark room where the meeting is to take place, Lily is taken into Brody's arms and she receives the kiss of her life. Oops! It's not Brody, but Quince. And when a mermaid princess is kissed, she is bonded to the guy forever. That is, unless her father will pronounce them "unbonded."

No problem, right? Wrong! Quince is cool with the whole thing and Lily's father adores him. How maddening!!!!

Of course, you'd have to be really dense to NOT see what's going to happen here. Predictable, yes. Fun, yes!

Terry Lynn Childs has a sequel, Fins Forever. The fun continues!

Epitaph Road

2011-08-05T13:15:00.001-05:00

I saw David Patneude at TLA at a panel discussion of YA dystopian literature. Later I had him sign this book that I purchased. David is rather quiet (especially compared to some YA authors), but I really liked what he said during the session, and I decided that I would read Epitaph Road. Although I'm not a big dystopian fan. I'm glad that I did.

According to everyone I'd talked to, the main thing to do when I underwent my trials - the oral parts anyway - was to impress the examiners with my knowledge and sensitivity, to look sincere when I was doing it, and to exhibit my awareness of how EVERYTHING (almost) HAD IMPROVED SINCE WOMEN TOOK OVER THE WORLD. And that didn't seem too hard. I was a guy, but it would have been foolish to deny pre-PAC history. It would have been silly to deny the improved condition of society under PAC governance. And I didn't want to.

In 2067, an airborne virus, later called Elisha's Bear, killed 97% of the world's male population. Thirty years later, Kellen, is one of the five per cent of the world's male population. His mother is a very powerful member of the Population Apportionment Council (PAC) and Kellen lives a privileged life until her overhears his aunt and mother talking one day. It looks as if Elisha's Bear has returned and rather that getting to visit his reclusive father, he is to be sent away. Kellen and his two friends, Tia and Sunday, agree to help him find his father and warn him about the recurrence of the virus. What starts as an innocent "running away from home" tale escalates into an action-packed survival story.

Elisha turned to the young men who were mocking him, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears rushed out of the woods, and tore the offenders to pieces.
--2 Kings 2:24

I won't give away the ending, but those who enjoyed Neal Shusterman's Unwind or the Hunger Games trilogy should give this one a chance.
.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

2011-07-29T22:08:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what I think of Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. This tells the story of Rose Edelstein who has a "gift." She can "taste" the mood/feelings of the person cooking or baking the food. When she realizes that she has the "gift," she notices for the first time that her mother is extremely unhappy. Later she discovers that her mother is having an affair.

Rose grows up through the story, learning to deal with her gift. She can even distinguish where the food originated and whether it is organic. Inevitably she embraces her gift and shares it with others.

Rose's father and brother, Joseph, also have a gift although neither are delineated very well.

I don't think I've ever read a book that made me feel so alone, so overlooked, and so miniscule. Bender chooses NOT to use quotation marks, which was a bit disconcerting.

While an ALEX winner, I don't know that I would recommend this to my students - or adults either.

A Walk in the Woods

2011-07-23T20:02:00.002-05:00

"Distance changes utterly when you take the world on foot. A mile becomes a long way, two miles literally considerable, ten miles whopping, fifty miles at the very limits of conception. The world, you realize, is enormous in a way that only you and a small community of fellow hikers know. Planetary scale is your little secret."

While I love to hike, I'm a plugger. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, passes me on the trail. I feel like the tortoise in Aesop's fable. S-L-O-W and steady.

Anyway, I had read that A Walk in the Woods was a funny book to recommend to boys and decided to read it. I truly didn't think it all that funny, but I did appreciate Bill Bryson's take on hiking part of the Appalachian Trail. Rather than being a treatise on success, he discusses how darn HARD it is to hike mile after mile. He didn't complete the trail, which was a surprise to me. (How many people admit to quitting?)

I've only tried day hikes, not anything as expansive as camping in the woods. I think the perfect hike has a beautiful view (or payoff like a waterfall or gorgeous lake) and a teahouse to have a proper cup of tea.

This is a picture of my husband and me at the waterfall below the Lake Agnes Teahouse in Banff National Park.

Little House

2011-07-21T15:40:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up, I LOVED the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Even as an adult I reread them every Christmas. I wasn't the biggest fan of Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie, but I really loved the books starting with On the Banks of Plum Creek. At one time, I think I had These Happy Golden Years almost memorized.

Because of my love of the books, I've taken some very out-of-the-way trips to visit Mansfield, Missouri and DeSmet, South Dakota, two of the places Laura Ingalls Wilder lived. Neither are really on the way anywhere.

When I saw The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie at ALA, I, of course, was interested. When the publisher's rep handed me a free book and said, "The author is signing," I was thrilled.

I spoke with author Wendy McClure as she was signing and shared that I had been to Mansfield and DeSmet. She asked when I had been to DeSmet. When I told her it was in 2004, she related that there is now a reconstruction of the claim shanty that Pa built and some other buildings as well. Oh, shoot! I'll never get to see them! It only took me 49 years to get to South Dakota. I don't think I'll find my way back anytime soon.

Last week I decided to take a break from reading all of my young adult fiction books and read McClure's experiences. In all, I really enjoyed the book. While I never had the same reactions as she, we both appreciate the novels. I never really wanted to meet Laura and show her what modern times would be like. Instead, I think I was mesmerized by the sense of place and time. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote vividly and I think I loved the passages about the food and the clothing most of all.

This is a must-read for Wilder fans. It reminds me of the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg. McClure describes the sites, but she also dispels the myths. I learned more about the REAL Laura Ingalls Wilder from reading this book than from anything else I've ever read.

What a deal - a few book, a free autograph, and a good read!

The Summer I Learned to Fly

2011-07-20T10:38:00.001-05:00

"Junior high is a strange land inhabited by strange creatures. The best you can do is keep your head down and your nose clean, and hold your breath until college."

I also read this as an advanced reader's copy that I picked up at a conference. After having seen Dana Reinhardt at the Texas Book Festival last fall, I knew I needed to read it. It's also appropriate for middle schoolers to read which is a definite plus!

Rising eighth grader, Drew (aka Birdie), spends the summer working in her mother's cheese shop. She doesn't really have any friends, but she does have a crush on the super hunky surfer, Nick, who works in her mom's shop. She also has a pet rat, Humbolt Fog, named after her favorite cheese and a loving aunt, Swoozie. ("I'd never through Swoozie under the bus. We trusted each other.")

Drew's dad died when she was three. Snooping through her mother's closet, she comes upon Dad's Book of Lists, a journal her dad wrote just for her, she thinks. In the journal, her dad has lists for just about everything, but the one entry that takes Drew's breath away says:

Fears: That I'll never see my Birdie learn to fly.

At the end of each day, Drew's mother asks her to take the day-old food out and leave it in the alleyway. One day she discovers a boy there - a boy she can really talk with named Emmett Crane. Emmett leaves her cryptic notes in the shape of origami cranes, and a friendship blossoms between the two.

This is a true coming of age story. There are tons of books that point out that middle school is synonymous with misery. (Where were those when I was a kid?) This one does it in a kinder, gentler way. Drew learns what kind of person she is, what she finds important, and what she's willing to risk and possibly lose.

"But what if I hadn't come? What if you'd been alone? What if I wasn't here?"
He reached over and took a strand of my hair that had fallen into my face and tucked it behind my ear, just like my mother always did, though it felt entirely different.

"But you are here," he said. "I had a life vest, but I didn't bring it. I don't need it. Because you are here."

Going Underground

2011-07-19T20:10:00.001-05:00

I think I picked up Going Underground by Susan Vaught at ALA. The pub date is September 13 so just in case you want to read it, come and see me for the ARC.

This book reminded me so much of Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson or Right Behind You by Gail Giles. Like the two other books, this tells the story of a boy who made a horrible mistake at a young age and must deal with the consequences for the rest of his life.

Seventeen-year-old Del cannot get a job other than digging graves. His one true friend plans to leave for Notre Dame after graduation. While Del has the grades and brains, he cannot even get admitted to a junior college. When he notices a beautiful girl, Livia, visiting a grave where he works, he knows that he cannot risk asking her for a date. All because of an event that happened when he was fourteen that turned him into a felon.

While Susan Vaught may have thought of this as a cautionary tale, it's also a really good story. Del is a very likable character. As a reader, I really cared about him. Although it is pretty easy to figure out what happened to him, his past is revealed as a series of episodic flashbacks. Also, the plot is somewhat predictable. However, I liked Del and the story so much, I really didn't mind.

This book could have easily become maudlin. However, Vaught includes a riotously funny parrot by the name of Fred who livens up the action and made me laugh out loud from time to time.

While I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone younger than eighth grade, I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

Stupid Fast

2011-07-17T14:01:00.000-05:00

One of the many fun perks about attending the ALA conference is the proliferation of free materials vendors give away. I had read the reviews of Stupid Fast prior to coming to ALA and have it on my first order list for the fall. When I saw that Follett was giving away copies of the book and that Geoff Herbach would sign them, I was first in line. Just looking at the cover I knew many of my boys would be interested in the book.

Felton Reinstein is about to turn sixteen years old in the summer before his sophomore year. He's always been referred to as "Rein Stone" or "Squirrel Nut" by his classmates in years past. However, Felton experiences a huge growth spurt and massive amounts of hair grow all over his body. It seems he cannot eat or sleep enough, and he's fast -stupid fast. The athletic coaches seek him out as a potential college D1 player. Never before has Felton had the attention of so many friends and adults - all because he is stupid fast.

But this is not the run-of-the mill jock story. Felton also has a very dysfunctional home life. He discovered his father's suicide when he was five and now his free-spirited mother, Jerri, refuses to be a parent to him and his younger brother, Andrew. Their home is in chaos, and Andrew cannot function without some structure and support in his life. Felton also covers his best friend's paper route while his friend is in Venezuela for the summer. A beautiful piano virtuoso, Aleah, lives in his friend's house for the summer, and Felton falls in love. While he would like to confide in someone, he feels inadequate to do so until one day...

While the supporting characters are integral to the plot, this story is Felton's to tell. As readers we see his insecurities, his awkwardness, his anxiety, and his need to find out the truth about himself.

I've never read another book quite like Stupid Fast. In 2012 the sequel The Whole Warm World will be released.

Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life

2011-07-16T11:00:00.001-05:00

For all of you fans of Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, here's another of that ilk coming from a surprising source - James Patterson.

Sixth grader Rafe Khatchadorian is starting his middle school years and not too excited about it. During the first day of school, he is given the Code of Conduct tome and makes it his goal to break every rule in the book. With his "friend," Leonardo the Silent, giving him points for each infraction, Rafe is exceptional at accomplishing his goal. Inevitably, however, all of his sins come home to roost and Rafe must deal with the consequences of his behavior.

No, this isn't a didactic book that teachers will love to show the consequences of poor choices, but it is the story of a boy who is trying to find his way in the confusing world of puberty and middle school.

Since this only covers Rafe's sixth grade year, I am assuming there will be sequels!

Moon Over Manifest

2011-07-10T20:43:00.001-05:00

I thought I knew a thing or two about people. Even had my list of universals. But I wondered. Maybe the world wasn't made of universals that could be summed up in neat little packages. Maybe there were just people. People who were tired and hurt and lonely and kind in their own way and their own time.

I was hoping to see Clare Vanderpool at ALA and get her to sign my copy of Moon over Manifest. Alas, that was not to be. I was in so many sessions and lines were ridiculously long that this will just have to wait.

Anyway, as much as I hate schlepping books in my luggage, I carried this one to New Orleans and read a lot of it while there. I just finished it, and I can say that I enjoyed it. It reminded me of Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe although there was narrative as well as newspaper articles. The book also had episodic flashbacks in the stories that Miss Sadie shares with Abilene Tucker.

Is is 1936 when Abilene's father sends her to Manifest, Kansas to spend the summer with his old friend, Shady Howard. While there, Abilene seeks to find out as much about her father as she can but is dismayed to find that there is no reference to him. After curiosity gets the best of her, she accidentally breaks a pot belonging Miss Sadie, the Hungarian gypsy fortune-teller. For restitution, Abilene must work for Miss Sadie who just happens to tell her stories about the happenings in Manifest in 1918 during World War I.

While at Shady's, Abilene finds some old letters and memorabilia under a floorboard in her room. She also discovers the mystery of "The Rattler" which she and two friends try to solve. Somehow the letters, memorabilia, and the mystery merge together as Miss Sadie shares the stories of the past.

While I found this to be a beautiful story, I again wonder if this Newbery-winner has child appeal. I hope it does.

Lucy Christopher

2011-07-09T11:39:00.000-05:00

While I was at the YALSA Coffee Klatch, I got to meet Lucy Christopher. She's from the UK! Very nice! She shared information about her Printz Honor book, Stolen.

Lauren Myracle

2011-07-08T16:47:00.001-05:00

I've seen Lauren Myracle many times. She's been at TLA and at the Texas Book Festival plus I've seen her at the NCTE Young Adult Symposium. She's very generous with her time. I really don't know how she writes, blogs, tweets, etc. and gets it all done.

She shared information about her new book, Shine, at the YALSA Coffee Klatch in New Orleans.

Countdown

2011-07-07T10:11:00.001-05:00

Deborah Wiles based much of Countdown on her own experiences growing up during the Cuban Missile crisis in 1962. While I wasn't as old as the main character, Franny Chapman, I do remember the "duck and cover" drills we had at school. I'm not sure that I understood why we were having them, but I do remember getting under my little desk at Lamar Elementary School in Wichita Falls. (I'm still not sure why getting under a desk was considered a protection in case of nuclear attack.)

This book is chock full of pop culture references, primary source photos, and quotes. Although historical fiction (called a "documentary novel" in the flap copy), this would be a history teacher's dream.

This is the first in a trilogy. While the history is strong, it does not overshadow the story of a typical eleven-year-old girl whose life is going through changes just as our country went through changes.

I can't wait for the next one!

Cassandra Clare

2011-07-06T09:47:00.001-05:00

Author of the Mortal Instruments series, Cassandra Clare was the first author we had at our table at the YALSA Coffee Klatch. She had a great Kate Spade handbag with Jane Austen's Emma on it! (So jealous!)

She shared that the casting for the movie has been done and she approves of the selections! She was also thrilled to know that boys like her books. At Greenhill I've noticed that boys tend to gravitate to her books more than the girls.

Super nice author, and it was thrilling to meet her!

2011-07-05T13:46:00.000-05:00

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

While at the ALA Conference in New Orleans, I stood in line for 30 minutes for the ARC to the sequel of Matched by Ally Condie! This was a first. I've NEVER stood in line for a sequel! Unfortunately, the ARCs had been misplaced, taken or whatever, and I didn't get one. Hopefully Penguin will honor their promise to mail me a copy.

For those who loved Lois Lowry's The Giver, Matched is a good companion novel. Cassia lives in a well-regulated, ordered, and highly structured world. At seventeen, she attends her matching ceremony where she learns that she is to marry her best friend, Xander. However, when she views the microcard with the information about Xander, his face is not the only to appear. She also sees the face of Ky Markham, another boy she knows. This does not fit with the perfection of the society in which they live. Their lives are dictated by the Society - who they marry, the type of work they do, even when they die. They are only allowed to view and read the same 100 paintings, songs, stories, and poems that have been selected for them. And they cannot write.

Not surprisingly, Cassia falls for Ky and realizes that she cannot live within the confines of the world in which she lives. When Ky is taken away, she knows she must follow.

I'm anxious to read Crossed, the sequel I'm supposed to receive. Wonder when???

YALSA Coffee Klatch

2011-07-04T19:35:00.001-05:00

One of the most fun activities at ALA is the YALSA Coffee Klatch. I was fortunate to go when I went to ALA in DC about four years ago. This year was a bit different, but still fun. There were a number of great authors that came to our table. I'll share a few.

I was most excited to see Maggie Stiefvater. She's written Shiver and Linger and the third in the trilogy, Forever, is coming out this month. She was promoting another book, however, at the coffee klatch. It is a stand-alone book entitled The Scorpio Races. (Lots of Shakespeare references.)

I was thrilled to meet her. Many of the middle school girls at Greenhill really love her books, and I knew it would be fun to tell them that I met her.

Thanks to Dorcas Hand for taking the picture! It was also great seeing my friend, Hope Krum!

Storm Runners

2011-07-03T14:37:00.002-05:00

As I believe I've written before, Roland Smith is one of my favorite authors. He's fantastic as a speaker, and his books are ACTION, ACTION, ACTION.

Storm Runners is no exception. Chase Masters and his father seek out areas where disastrous-type weather is predicted. No, they aren't storm chasers. Mr. Masters makes his living repairing storm-damaged areas. When a Katrina-type hurricane is predicted for Florida, Chase and his dad along with his dad's assistant, Tomas, head there to prepare for the storm. Chase is left at school when the storm hits. Although he knows that everyone should stay at school, the school's authorities determine that all students should get on the buses and head home. The rest of the slim book book chronicles the arrival of the storm and Chase's quest for survival.

But the story doesn't end. The kids may make it home, but it is only the eye of the storm...

You Don't Know About Me

2011-07-02T10:36:00.002-05:00

"A book can liberate the one who reads it, and the one who writes it."

I really enjoyed Brian Meehl's book Suck It Up which is a spoof on all of the vampire-inspired novels that are so in vogue today. When I read the critical analysis of his latest book, you don't know about me, in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, it sounded really good. As I mentioned before, I'm always on the lookout for books that guys will like, and this one sounded as if it would "fill the bill."

Billy Allbright is a "Jesus-throated Whac-a-Mole." He's been home-schooled all of his life by his mother who is on a one-person crusade to save the world from all its wickedness. Because of this crusade, Billy's mother is often one step ahead of the law, and the two of them spend much time on the road. When they arrive in Independence, Missouri, Billy asserts himself in wanting to attend school for the first time. However, when he receives a package from a father he thought dead, he decides to find the man and in turn, find out the truth about himself.

In the story, Billy learns that his father owns the sequel to Huckleberry Finn that Mark Twain wrote but never published. He is the heir to this treasure if he can find it. Rhyming clues are found in geocaches left throughout the western part of the United States. Along the way, he is befriended by Ruah Branch, a professional baseball player, who is also confronted with the truth about himself. Billy reads each part of Huck Finn to his new friend as they are discovered in each geocache, and the two have long detailed conversations which open up a new world for Billy.

While a bit over the top, I enjoyed the story until the episode with the Potlatchers occurs. The two ask Billy to be the star in their "un-movie," and the story delves into incredulity. Fortunately, Meehl gets it back on track and Billy is back on his way to find his father and the manuscript.

There are lot of Biblical references in the story and moral dilemmas. As expected, the story mirrors Huck Finn. While I wonder how many students have read Twain's book, it could inspire a few readers to check it out.

War & Watermelon

2011-07-01T16:20:00.000-05:00

I picked up this advanced reader copy of War and Watermelon at TLA in April. It looked like a book boys might like, so I decided to give it a try. It takes place in the summer of 1969 right after the first moon landing. The protagonist, Brody Wilson, is about to start his first year in junior high as a seventh grader. He idolizes his older brother, Ryan, who just finished high school and is about to turn eighteen. Ryan, like many of his age, isn't really ready to attend college, but Mr. Wilson fears that his son will be drafted if he doesn't. Here is the true conflict in the story.

Brady is like a typical seventh grade boy. He's confused about girls, is overly influenced by his best friend Tony, and wants to play football although he's rather a klutz.

Pop culture references abound in the story. Brady enjoys listening to music and constantly rates his favorite songs. He, Ryan, and Ryan's girlfriend all attend Woodstock taking with them the watermelon which is forgotten in the car to disastrous results. Being from New Jersey, there are many references to the '69 Mets.

I liked War & Watermelon. While not as well-written as The Wednesday Wars, it covers a lot of the same ground - a seventh grade boy, an older sibling affected by the events of the day. It also appeals to an older audience.

Level Up

2011-06-15T19:02:00.001-05:00

After seeing Gene Yang at the BooksmART Festival on Saturday, I thought I'd read his latest graphic novel, Level Up. During his presentation, he explained that he has based the story on his brother's experience becoming a gastroenterologist. Yes, that's right. The doctor who performs colonoscopies!

In the story, Dennis Ouyang wants to play video games, but it forbidden by his academic-obsessed parents. After the death of his father, Dennis overdoses on video games, almost flunking out of college until he is visited by some guardian "angels" who cook, clean, support, and tutor Dennis to help him successfully returns to school and enter medical school. While at medical school, Dennis meets some new friends, has some new adventures and forgets all about the angels. The "angels" turn out to be ghosts that Dennis "eats." (PacMan anyone?) Dennis leaves his studies for awhile pursuing his love of the video game, but returns when he realizes that a colonoscopy is like playing a video game. Really?

Okay, I agree. Will this fly with students? I realize that the content of comics and graphic novels are sometimes convoluted, but will this be appealing to anyone?

Along for the Ride

2011-06-14T14:37:00.000-05:00

After seeing Sarah Dessen a few weeks ago, I was surprised to find that I had downloaded one of her books onto my iPod earlier in the year. I really enjoyed listening to Along for the Ride although the reader had quite the little girl voice.

Auden West just graduated from high school and while quite the genius has missed out on many of the milestones of childhood. Escaping her overly dramatic and critical mother, she spends the summer with her father who is now married to the very young Heidi and Auden's newborn half-sister, Thisbe. Auden learns that her father is self-centered and controlling, but mostly she learns a lot about herself.

After having a short interlude with a young man in the dunes one evening, Auden helps out in her stepmother's clothing shop in the beach town where her father is a professor at the local university. There she befriends some other girls her age, but forges a friendship/romance with another flawed character, Eli. Eli helps Auden recapture some of her lost childhood and she helps him come to grips with the loss of Eli's dear friend.

This is a rather slow-moving book. Dessen fleshes out her characters and as good authors do, has them grow over time. Even the minor characters are mostly three-dimensional. The ending is not perfect or pat, but realistic and hopeful.

This is definitely above the usual chick-lit fare.

Three Hens and Peacock

2011-06-13T10:07:00.001-05:00

I usually don't blog about picture books, but I'm making an exception in this case. Last week while I was attending TASLA, I was fortunate enough to hear the author, Lester L. Laminack. What a hoot! While he had us laughing hard, he also had a great message about the impact of using picture books to provide background for older students when studying various topics.

Three Hens and a Peacock tells the story of a really showy peacock who angers the hens on the farm when he shows off his gorgeous tailfeathers and stops traffic. The hens want to get in the action. They send the peacock to the henhouse to lay eggs while they doll up to stop traffic. Of course, no traffic is stopped and the peacock can't manage to lay an egg. (Wonder if the kids will get that part?) The end of the story comes the realization that each is suited for his/her purpose.

There's also a joke on the back endpaper. Wonder if the kids will get that part either?

Lester shared a statement I would love to have painted in big letters in my office:

You don't have to agree me with for me to be right.

Beauty Queens

2011-06-12T20:03:00.000-05:00

Several years ago I saw Libba Bray at TLA. I don't know that I ever laughed that hard at any session I've every attended. Libba grew up in Denton, Texas (truly a home of a famous Miss America, Phyllis George), and she attended the University of Texas. It's obvious she knows her stuff.

So...it's no surprise that she writes what she knows.This satire is the story of the contestants for the Miss Teen Dream pageant who crash land on a deserted island. One of the characters is, of course, Miss Texas otherwise known as Taylor Rene Krystal Hawkins.

Taylor stood in a perfect three-quarters stance, arms hanging easily at her sides. "I have been class president three years in a row, homecoming queen, a National Merit Scholar, and a member of the National Honor Society, and I am a proud, card-carrying member of FAF --Femmes and Firearms. I can shoot a thirty-aught-six as well as a nine-millimeter and a Pink Lady paint gun. Last year, I took down my first buck, which I cleaned, filleted, and vacuum sealed, ald with my taxidermy skills, I stuffed the head and used the antlers as a supercute jewelry tree, which I plan to market fo the Armchair Shopping Network in the spring. That is American ingenuity. It's what makes this country great, and if elected, I would be proud to serve. Thank you."

Of the fifty contestants, only fourteen survive, but that's okay isn't it? Less competition. One of the survivors, Miss New Mexico, has a tray table embedded in her forehead creating a new fashion statement.

Every beauty queen cliche is pulled out here. When a group of pirates from the reality TV show Captains Bodacious IV: Badder and More Bodaciouser shipwreck on the island, the action goes even more over the top. Unbeknownst to the pirates and the prima donnas, however, a secret U.S. weapons trading ring is hiding in the volcano on the island.

The text is interspersed with footnotes, commercial messages, Miss Teen Dream Fund Facts Pages, and other zaniness. Bray makes her point about our celebrity-obsessed society and our superficial "value system."

Overall, I grew a little weary of the story. I got the whole Lord of the Flies meets Miss America message early in the story. I never really cared about any of the characters, and too much of the story was just ridiculous, even for a satire. (MoMo B. ChaCha in a white Elvis jumpsuit???) Come on!

BooksmART Festival

2011-06-11T20:29:00.001-05:00

Today I attended the BooksmART festival at the Dallas Museum of Art. It was the first time something like this has been held. There were kids and parents everywhere!

I was fortunate to see Gene Luen Yang's presentation. His graphic novel American Born Chinese won the Printz Award a few years ago. His new book which came out four days ago is called Level Up. I can't wait to read it!

After the presentation, I stood out in the hot sun and got Jerry Pinkney to autograph his Caldecott-winning book, The Lion & The Mouse. Not only is he extremely talented, but he is also one of the nicest people you'd like to meet. Later I heard his presentation about the book.

I also had Norton Juster sign my first edition copy of The Hello, Goodbye Window. I got Chris Raschka's autograph a few years back; it wadi really cool to have both autographs.

I caught the end of Cynthia Leitich Smith's presentation and then heard Laurie Halse Anderson. I've heard Laurie speak several times before, but today she really ROCKED even more than usual! I loved how she called several of her books historical THRILLERS. Think that might draw the kids in?

I also got to see some of my old friends - Hope Krum and Susi Grissom. Both are such awesome people that it was like the icing on the cake!

This was like a Texas Book Festival for kids. With the exception of having to stand in the hot sun, it was a terrific day. The DMA is going to have a hard time improving on this!

Sass & Serendipity

2011-05-27T14:42:00.000-05:00

I picked up this advance reader's copy at TLA and read it a couple of weeks ago, but just haven't had the time to blog about it.

There is a plethora of current YA books based on the novels of Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies : The Classic Regency Romance--Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! , Prom & Prejudice , and Prada and Prejudice are just a few that we have in the Montgomery Library. It is not surprising, therefore, that Jennifer Ziegler based her latest book, Sass & Serendipity, on an Austen favorite, Sense and Sensibility which was published in 1811.

Gabriella Rivera is the older sister in Ziegler's treatise. Gabby is smart, serious, and oftentimes snide. (Like that alliteration?) Her best friend and confidante is a loyal young man whose nickname is Mule. Gabby uses him as a sounding board against her younger sister, Daphne. Daffy is the appropriately named and is the antithesis of her sister. Because of their differences, there is tension between the two girls throughout the novel.

The girls' parents have divorced. Daffy is still enamored of her father, while Gabby blames him for the breakup of the marriage and the financial hardship the girls and their mother face. This hardship forces them to move to a guest cottage on the estate of the small town's wealthiest families where the rich, good-looking son has an eye for Gabby.

Gabby, however, has a secret which she has never shared with anyone. Because of this secret, she loathes the rich boy, Prentiss, causing even more problems in the family. Daffy, on the other hand, only has eyes for Luke, the new kid that inevitably breaks her heart.

Just as the Austen novel, the girls end up with right guys and everything looks up for everyone.

I looked forward to the publication of this novel. I loved Jennifer Ziegler's other novel How NOT to be Popular which was so popular that it was stolen from our library. Unfortunately, I didn't really like this one. Unlike Austen's novel, the only character I remotely liked was the long-suffering, Mule. Gabby was annoying at best, and Daffy was such a self-centered airhead that I didn't care for either girl. The plot was predictable even if the reader didn't have knowledge of the original Austen novel.

I kept waiting for this to get better. I waited...waited...waited....

Dragonfly

2011-05-11T10:32:00.000-05:00

I read Dragonfly by Julia Golding a couple of weekends ago. I was booktalking the Lone Star list and this was one I hadn't yet read.

While I'm not a big fantasy reader, I enjoyed Dragonfly. As one of the sixth grade girls commented, "The princess wasn't a girly-girl. I hate 'girly-girly' princesses!" Maybe that's why I liked the book as well. Plus it wasn't high fantasy - no magic or strange creatures, just a somewhat different world.

Set in a medieval-type time, Ramil ac Burinholt's father has arranged a marriage between him and Tashi, the Fourth Crown Princess of the Blue Crescent Islands to form an alliance between the two kingdoms. Naturally, neither Ramil nor Tashi are thrilled about this idea. When the two meet, it's detest at first site. Tashi contacts her kingdom sharing that there's absolutely no way she's going to marry this boor.

Prior to her departure, however, Ramil asks Tashi to join him for a horseback ride. In Tashi's kingdom, there are no horses; she accepts in order to have a new adventure, one that she probably will never again experience. While riding, the two are captured by a rival king's emissaries. The remainder of the story involved the two bonding in order to save themselves and their respective kingdoms from Fergox, the evil king.

Predictably, the two fall for each other which makes their plight even more desperate. While there is a romance, it is secondary to the action.

It will be interesting to see if boys will check this out. I think boys would enjoy the adventure and the action.

Bruiser

2011-04-29T14:56:00.000-05:00

You think you want to know the secrets of the universe. You think you want to see the way things all fit together. You believe in your heart of hearts that enlightenment will save the world and set you free.

Maybe it will.

But the path to enlightenment is rarely a pleasant one.

Told in four voices, Bruiser is the story of Brewster Rawlins, a young man who can truly "feel your pain." In fact, he assumes the pain, physical and mental, for anyone he cares for to the point that he can even assume some one's death. Unfortunately for him, this pain is very real to him, agonizingly real.

Tennyson and Brontё are twins. Their parents are obviously professors of literature. (Each chapter is entitled with a vocabulary word that is illustrated well in that particular chapter.) Their parents are also in the process of separating. Tennyson tends to be a bully, and Brontё has a new boyfriend, Bruiser, that Tennyson does not like. Tennyson soon discovers, however, that Bruiser has scars and bruising all over his body as if he's been abused. But Bruiser's not been abused. These are the marks he bears for the suffering of others, especially his little brother, Cody.

Neal Shusterman always gives us books that make us pause, make us think. In a way, this book reminds me of Tuck Everlasting. While in Tuck the question is about living forever, the question here is if absorbing pain is a gift or a curse? Brew suffers his fate for those he loves. Would we be so altruistic?

Okay for Now

2011-04-19T09:25:00.001-05:00

Wow! This is my 100th blog post! Can you believe it? Plus it's very fitting that it should be one of my VERY favorite authors - Gary Schmidt.

Lucas laughed. So good. "It sounds like you know what you're talking about."

Mr. Powell raised an eyebrow. "I'm a librarian," he said. "I always know what I'm talking about..."

Anyone who loved The Wednesday Wars will love Okay for Now. It is 1968 and Doug Swieteck has moved from Long Island to his new home in upstate New York. Usually moves are upsetting, but this is even worse. His home is "the dump," his gym coach hates his guts, his dad is abusive and neglectful, his older brother treats him terribly and is viewed by the neighbors as a thief, and his oldest brother is coming home from Vietnam, a broken young man.

This would make most kids certifiable, but Doug hangs in there. It all begins on a day when he visits the public library and sees a John James Audubon print of an Arctic Tern. What an eye! Before Doug knows it, he's befriended by the librarian, has a "girl," Lil, and a job which puts in the path of many other quirky, but interesting characters. All of this rolls together to give Doug a mission to retrieve all of the Audubon plates for restoration in the library.

Mr. Schmidt uses some of the same plot devices that he used in his other books- distant fathers, the "eye" of the tern and the "eye" of the whale, a female "friend" who provides stability, a sympathetic mother, and a older, supportive adult. Whatever it is, it works.

Not all of the threads are neatly tied up at the end, but Doug is "okay for now."

I spoke with Gary Schmidt at TLA last week. He was surprised that I'd already read the book. (Who could keep me from it?) While I don't want to spoil the ending, suffice it to say that things will go well for Doug and Lil. (You'll see when you read the book.) Mr. Schmidt also shared that he's going to write another book from Meryl Lee's point of view. Just can't wait!

Anthony Horowitz

2011-04-18T15:04:00.001-05:00

After having spent the majority of last week in Austin at TLA, I really wasn't in the mood to drive all the way downtown Dallas to the Dallas Museum of Art on Sunday afternoon. I'd seen and heard a number of authors speak and went to many sessions, and I was really TIRED.

I'm glad I decided to go to this presentation of BooksmART, however. Anthony Horowitz's books are wildly popular at Greenhill, especially with the boys. I've never had any trouble selling them to the reluctant guy.

Anthony was hilarious. He was personable, approachable, and it was obvious that he really likes kids. While he had notes for his presentation, most of what he said seemed polished yet "unrehearsed." His adoring audience had numerous questions after his presentation, and Mr. Horowitz seemed to enjoy answering all of them. He was a gracious gentleman in the book signing line (which was a mile long.)

There were a number of Greenhill students who made it to the presentation. I think all of us thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.

Close to Famous

2011-03-24T15:30:00.001-05:00

Wow! What's NOT to like about a Joan Bauer novel? This one is a real cupcake - literally!

Rising seventh grader Foster McFee and her mother land in Culpepper, West Virginia when her mother flees her Elvis-impersonating, abusive boyfriend. Having left so quickly, Foster leaves without her most prized item: a pillowcase filled with her dead father's possessions. In Culpepper, Foster finds her niche as the town's greatest cupcake baker, but she also finds more. She is befriended by an aspiring documentary maker and an eccentric, aging film star who teaches her to read. She also inspires her mother to pursue her solo singing career.

In many ways, Close to Famous reminds me of Because of Winn-Dixie. Just like Opal, Foster is an engaging child yearning for a parent who will never return. Rather than a dog, however, Foster's vehicle of acceptance is her baking ability. Both also are set in small towns populated with quirky characters.

Close to Famous is not nearly as good as Bauer's Newbery honor book, Hope Was Here, and its audience is obviously younger. However, for this sugar-starved reader, it was absolutely yummy!

Brain Jack

2011-03-23T14:41:00.001-05:00

The beginning of Brain Jack started like the movie Catch Me If You Can except on cyber steroids. Seventeen-year-old Sam Wilson is a master hacker. Not only has he hacked into the high security Telcoamerica communications network system, he's also hacked into the White House security system. Of course, this gets him noticed. Because of his abilities, he is sought out by the government to help save the world.

Yes, this is over the top action and techno-speak. Those who enjoy futuristic tales with lots of plot and little character development will enjoy this book. I found the characters very flat with little to differentiate them. I actually took a hiatus reading this because of a unit that I was teaching and went back to it. It didn't really matter if I didn't remember the characters because they were simply the vehicle to keep the story together.

I think this type of book appeals to some but definitely not to all. Calling all techno-geeks, have I got the book for you!

The Grimm Legacy

2011-02-10T15:07:00.000-06:00

I was raised on the Brothers Grimm, and I don't mean the Disneyfied type either. I mean the nitty-gritty Brothers Grimm where the ugly stepsister cut off part of her foot to fit in the slipper! To this day, my mom enjoys fairy tales. I really feel for those kids who don't have a background in the classic tales. They are missing out on so much!

While there are a number of "retellings" of fairy tales in Young Adult literature, I don't know that I've read anything quite like The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. Elizabeth Rew writes a research paper on the Brothers Grimm and is selected by her teacher as a candidate for a job at the New York Circulating Material Repository. This is a library for "stuff" - not books. They've got a group of "select" patrons who are allowed to borrow these fascinating items.

Elizabeth is thrilled to get the job and even more thrilled when she gets to borrow items from the select Grimm collection! These are powerful items from the stories the Brothers Grimm collected. Unfortunately, some of these unique items have gone missing, and Elizabeth feels compelled to find the thief. Is is one of her co-workers or one of the many patrons of the New York Circulating Material Repository?

As a librarian, I enjoyed the library references (including Dewey call numbers on the referenced items and the hustle and bustle of a circulating library) Shulman's vivid writing made me actually "see" the library and all of the objects discussed.

What a magical read!

How to Survive Middle School

2011-02-07T08:13:00.000-06:00

One really nice thing about having several unexpected days off is having the time to read! One day we didn't even have television. While I thought that was pretty great, my husband nearly went stir crazy!

Anyway, I finished How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart. It wasn't really the book that I thought it would be, but I liked it. Eleven year old David Greenberg starts his summer before middle school thinking that he and his best friend, Elliott, will have a great time making TalkTime videos. (Talk Time is David's version of Jon Stewart's The Daily Show with a little David Letterman thrown in with his Top 6 1/2 Lists.) Elliott, however, is much more interested in checking out the the girls at the mall. At the end of the summer, David's lost his best friend and is even more lost when he arrives at Harman Middle School.

This book poses a number of universal middle school questions. Who am I? Where do I fit in the social mix? Am I a child or am I a young adult? How do I deal with bullying? Am I a loser/freak/geek/nerd? Why don't my old friends like me any more? And so on...

David wields through all of these questions and more all the while producing TalkTime for YouTube. When his science partner, Sophie, shares some of the videos with her homeschool network of friends, the videos go viral. David catches the attention of the newspaper and even Jon Stewart while catching the wrath of the school bully. Fortunately, David stays true to his roots and his friend Elliott returns to his.

Fortunately for David, he has a wonderful Bubbe and a pet hamster that help him get through some of the troubling times as well. (There's even a recipe for Bubbe's Jewish Apple Cake that sounds yummy.)

The characters, voice, and situations all ring true in How to Survive Middle School. I think boys and girls would enjoy the book.

Stuck on Earth

2011-01-31T08:17:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon I read Stuck on Earth by David Klass - another alien novel and an average one at that. Ketchvar III, a snail-like creature from the planet Sandoval IV, comes to earth to inhabit the body of a fourteen-year-old boy, Tom Filber. Ketchvar's job is to determine if the earth's inhabitants should be allowed to live. If not, the Sandovinians will exterminate humans and take over the planet.

There's no real surprises here. After Ketchvar's initial disgust for our species (Tom Filber is bullied and already considered an "alien" by his classmates), he comes to like it here especially when he finds a girlfriend, Michelle, the girl next door. There's some environmental aspects and Ketchvar triumphs in the end. Are we surprised?

Enough already! It looks like aliens ARE taking over the world - at least in YA literature.

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors

2011-01-24T11:48:00.001-06:00

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what i had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...
Walden by Henry David Thoreau

I listened to The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork. It reminded me so much of Freak the Mighty although the reviewers point out that it is reminiscent of Don Quixote.

Almost from the beginning, the reader knows what is going to happen. Pancho is an orphan out to revenge his sister's death. He comes to St. Anthony's Orphanage in Las Cruces, NM and meets D.Q. who is dying of cancer. D.Q. senses there is something more in Pancho and immediately befriends him. Pancho accompanies D.Q. to Albuquerque where D.Q.'s mother has insisted that he try a new chemo protocol. Albuquerque is also where Pancho plans to find and kill his sister's murderer. The only way D.Q. will have the treatment is with the understanding that he can go back to St. Anthony's.

While in Albuquerque, D.Q. meets Marisol, the girl that D.Q. adores. As expected, she falls for Pancho instead. Initially this causes a rift between the two boys, but later D.Q. comes to accept it, thinking that he is about to die.

D.Q. is a precocious young man. He's insightful, thoughtful, and accepting of his fate. It is with those qualities that he helps Pancho come to grips with his own fate. Throughout the book, he writes The Death Warrior's Manifesto which gives his insights to Pancho.

This was a difficult book to hear, and I'm sure to read. Death of a child or a young person never makes sense. Learning to live does.

"Our task is to try. Being a Death Warrior is all in the trying." D.Q. paused to take a deep breath. "If we live with gratitude, not wasting any time not loving, we can enter that dimension. That is my faith. I've been writing about what this faith looks like and talking about it like a perico, but now I'm ready to live it. That's so good."

Heist Society

2011-01-10T14:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, okay, I know. Ship Breaker won the Printz. Wouldn't you know it? At least I don't have to worry if it's in the library or that I haven't read it. Overall, I wasn't the least bit excited about the ALA Awards this year. I guess I haven't read a book that I thought was all that good in a very long time. Pretty disheartening.

Anyway, I finished Heist Society by Ally Carter over the weekend. I must say that it wasn't anything like I imagined. I thought it would be the proverbial girl-book fare, but it really wasn't. There is a flirtation of a flirtation, but not much more. This is a story filled with glamour, faraway places, mystery, and intrigue.

Katarina Bishop has managed to enroll in the prestigious Colgan School only to be expelled for a prank she didn't do - didn't even have any knowledge of. Her billionaire friend (and flirtation), Hale, appears to take her back to the life she's been trying so hard to escape. He informs her that her father has been "framed" for stealing five pieces of art from Arturo Taccone. These are five pieces of art that Taccone has stolen first. Even though Kat knows her father is innocent, she's got two weeks to get the paintings back or her father will pay - possibly with his life.

She assembles a crack group of teen aged art thieves to help her and jets all over the United States and Europe to put her plan in place. There are enough twists and turns to keep the action going. Will she be able to locate the paintings? If so, can she steal them back in time to save her father?

Think a teenage National Treasure. And, of course, there needs to a sequel!

Ship Breaker

2011-01-07T10:39:00.001-06:00

First of all, I must admit I'm no big fan of sci fi or dystopian literature. Therefore, it will come to no one's surprise that I wasn't a big fan of Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.

The story takes place in a futuristic time when the world's oil reserves have played out, and rusting tankers are grounded in the Gulf Coast region. Teenaged Nailer survives by stripping these decaying tankers of copper wiring although it nearly takes his life. After a horrific hurricane hits the area, he and a friend discover a sleek clipper ship aground. Knowing that this would be his ticket to a more comfortable life, Nailer plans to strip the clipper of its riches until he discovers the beautiful and wealthy girl whose family owns the clipper. Does he kill her for the riches inside the ship or help her in the hopes that she can help him escape his drugged-out, abusive father?

One of the strengths of the book are the vivid characterizations Bacigalupi provides in the story. Nailer is a boy grappling with major life decisions. Because of his circumstances, he really should have no moral background, but, of course, he does.Tool, the half man, defies "conventional" customs to be his own person. Nita, the "swank" heiress, finds that she can find happiness in a humbler circumstance.

This is an edgy book. Plenty of language, violence, and action. Definitely for eighth grade and up. Vividly drawn, this book would make a great movie - Johnny Depp as Richard Lopez?

Fat Cat

2010-12-02T15:52:00.000-06:00

I was wrong. I could have been happy anyway. I just refused to let myself.

I just finished the audio of Fat Cat by Robin Brande. She's also the author Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature. Her books are a cut above the girl meets boy genre. She's got a scientific edge to her books that I like. And her protagonists are smart. Not obnoxiously smart, but smart and likable.

Cat is an overweight science brainiac. She's been given a picture by her science teacher, Mr. Fizer, and must come up with a science fair project based on the picture. The photo shows early homo erectus. The woman in the picture is strong and thin. Cat decides to use herself as the subject of her research. In every way possible, she plans to live like this woman and see how it changes her life even though it means no junkfood (Yikes!), no technology except for schoolwork (How can she ever live without a phone and TV?) and no makeup or hair care products.

But is she really doing this all for science? She's avoided Matt McKinney since seventh grade when he dissed her in front of another guy due to her weight. She'd been in love with him since she was seven or eight, and he broke her heart. Will this lifestyle change her life?

I loved Cat, but I loved her well-adjusted friend, Amanda, even better. Everyone should have a friend like Amanda. She's loyal, supportive, and a confidante in the truest sense of the word. And talented and creative plus she's a poet.

It's interesting. After I listened to the book and the discussion afterwards, I've noticed that I'm really careful how I eat again. This book really brings an awareness of what we are doing to our bodies.

I'm thrilled this book is on next year's Lone Star list. It gets a solid "10" from me!

Little Blog on the Prairie

2010-11-30T08:51:00.001-06:00

I wonder if there are any kids who still read the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They were a staple of my childhood. I still love to read them and have made the requisite pilgrimages to Mansfield, Missouri and DeSmet, South Dakota to bask in all things Laura. Unfortunately, I don't think they resonate with most of today's students.

That's why I didn't initially purchase Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell. I thought the cover would be a turn-off to my middle schoolers who would rather read about vampires, spies, dystopian societies, and fantasy worlds I could never imagine. The Texas Lone Star Committee, however, thought otherwise. I had a preview copy that I picked up at TLA so I read it over the Thanksgiving break.

As I was strapping on some boots with twenty different hooks you had to wrap the laces around, and Betsy was showing my mom the clothes she'd laid out for her, I asked, "So is that they year you're pretending it is now? 1890? "

"Oh, no," said Betsy. "1890 is the year it is."

It is the summer before Genevieve goes to high school. She's looking forward to soccer camp, hanging with her friends, and enjoying a summer vacation with her family. Her mother, however, decides the family should spend two months at frontier history family camp living like they did in (gulp!) 1890. No camp, no hanging out with friends, no use of the new cell phone her parents have purchased for high school...

The family must wear clothing from the 1890s, prepare and eat food from the 1890s, work in the fields like they did in the 1890s. Gen must even sleep with her younger brother. Ew! Unbeknownst to everyone, however, is the fact that Gen brought the verboten cell phone with her and is texting her friends telling them about the horrors of frontier life. Her friends at home turn those messages into a blog for the world to see.

Of course, the battery on Gen's phone inevitably dies when she finds the owner's secret solar shack complete with electricity, Internet access, and Diet Coke! A touch of civilization! She charges the battery on her phone and is back in business, or is she?

When Nora turns the phone over to her father, Gen is in a terrible mess risking the family's tenure at camp. It also opens a can of worms and a potential disaster risking the lives of Gen's parents.

I'll be interested how this works out. Will the kids want to read about living in another time? Or will it be like reading historical fiction which we all know everyone likes to do! :-)

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had

2010-11-19T15:17:00.000-06:00

My real name is Harry Otis Sims, but everyone calls me Dit. See, when I was little, I used to roll a hoop down Main Street, beating it with a stick as I ran along. One day, two older boys tried to steal my hoop. I hit them with my stick and told them, "Dit away." They laughed. "You talk like a baby. Dit, dit, dit." The name stuck.

Ever had a student who asked for another book "Just like..."? I've always had difficulty with that type of reader's advisory. There's never a book "just like" a particular book. At a conference I went to recently, it was explained that kids don't really want a book that's "just like" another. They want something that made them feel the same way.

I guess that's why I found this book to be a blend between two of my all-time favorite books, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and To Kill a Mockingbird. Mind you, The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had does not measure up to either, but I felt the same after I read it.

Dit Sims is disappointed when the new postmaster's child is a girl. Not only is she a girl, but she's an African American girl. Moundville, Alabama during WWI is not the most integrated of places, but Dit's mom asks him to be nice to Emma Walker and include her. While Dit is not initially crazy about the idea, he comes to realize through the story that Emma is his best friend who actually brings the best out in him. The friendship between the two reminds me of Lizzie Bright.

The sheriff of the town, Big Foot, is an evil bully. One day he confronts the African American barber threatening to kill him. Dit and Emma are witnesses when the barber shoots and kills Big Foot. Of course, Doc Haley is sentenced to death by hanging. Unlike Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird, however, he doesn't commit suicide. Or does he?

Kristin Levine has created a town of memorable characters like in Maycomb, Alabama or Phippsburg, Maine. The two unlike friends bring out the best in each other and bridge gaps in understanding that the adults in both books cannot seem to grasp. Baseball figures prominently in this book as it does in Lizzie Bright. Setting the eagle free reminds me of Boo Radley.

Maybe it's not "just like," but it was just as satisfying.

NBA Nominee

2010-11-15T16:45:00.000-06:00

I thought it might be appropriate to read at least one of the National Book Award nominees. I got an advanced reader's copy at the YALSA Symposium a couple of weeks ago so I thought I'd read it.

Dark Water is by Laura McNeal. The story's fifteen year old protagonist is Pearl DeWitt. Pearl lives with her mother on her uncle's avocado estate in Fallbrook, California after her father runs off with another woman. Her uncle employs migrant workers, but one, Amiel, catches Pearl's eye. He can juggle and entertain, but is enigmatic. He can barely talk, but it matters little to Pearl, who determines that it is her desire to be with him.

Although Amiel does not respond to Pearl's advances at first, she will do almost anything to be with him including lying to her mother and running off in the woods to find where Amiel lives. This all comes to a head when a horrible fire breaks out. Instead of running to safety, Pearl runs to find Amiel.

I guess this is a different depiction of the immigrant experience although it is not through Amiel's eyes. I also didn't really understand what about him appealed so much to Pearl. The book was not a difficult read, but I really didn't feel that there was a resolution to the story - at least not one that satisfied me.

It will be interesting to see which book wins.

Half Brother

2010-11-08T14:39:00.001-06:00

We are the weirdest family in the world.
It's Ben Tomlin's thirteenth birthday. He should be excited, but he's not. It looks like his father has forgotten his birthday in the midst of moving from Toronto to Victoria where Dr. Tomlin and Ben's mother plan to start an experiment to teach a chimp to learn American Sign Language. Ben's mom is bringing the subject of the study, a baby chimp, to their new home.

Initially Ben thinks the entire idea is ridiculous, but the chimp, Zan, bonds with him. Zan is clever and learns to sign many words quickly. Things are looking up for Ben who is now enrolled in a prestigious private school and enraptured with his father's boss's daughter. Using his "alpha male" persona, he becomes BMOC until a major news magazine features a story about Zan and how some chimps are abused. When a famous linguist doubts that Zan is really acquiring language, Dr. Tomlin decides to pull the plug on the project. This means selling Zan.

Ben has begun to think of Zan as a member of the family. Although he realizes that Zan cannot stay with the family forever, he thinks there's a better place for Zan.

At the beginning, I was confused about the story since Koko, the gorilla, knew how to sign many years ago until I read this:

The four of us played happily for about three-quaters of an hour, taking about the CN Tower going up, and the space probe NASA had just launched, and the Skylab space station. It seemed to me that pretty much anything was possible these days. It was 1973, and if we could build space stations and the world's tallest structure, why couldn't we teach a chimp to talk?

I love Kenneth Oppel's Airbon series. In fact, it's the number one book I recommend to those kids who can't find anything to read. Half Brother, however, does not live up to the quality and interest of those other books in my opinion. There is still a cinematic quality to the writing, and there are humorous episodes (Ben changing Zan's diaper for one), but this one doesn't measure up to his other books.

YALSA's Young Adult Literature Symposium

2010-11-05T21:40:00.000-05:00

Right now I'm in my hotel room in Albuquerque after my first day of the symposium, "Diversity, Literature & Teens: Beyond Good Intentions. I went to a preconference this morning that was about booktalking. Most of it was really about reader's advisory, but I did pick up a few good ideas plus a few Arcs. This evening I went to a welcome reception. I saw my friend, Janet Hilbun, who now teaches at UNT. Since I knew no one else, I was just standing at the side watching the "action." A very nice woman asked if she could stand with me since she didn't know anyone either. She turned out to be Ann Burg who wrote All the Broken Pieces. We were soon joined by a lovely MS librarian from Kayenta, AZ. We had a great time talking about books, reading, and the effect of testing on reading. We actually closed down the party! It turned out to be a great evening!

Dark Song

2010-11-01T13:40:00.001-05:00

I am a real Gail Giles fan. I really liked What Happened to Cass McBride? and Right Behind You. Both were riveting reads. They are the type of books you cannot forget.

But memories don't always reveal the whole picture.

And some memories lie.

I was excited to see that she had a new title out recently. Dark Song tells the story of fifteen year old Ames Ford who lives a life that most kids could only dream of in Boulder, Colorado. Ames has a wealthy, loving father who tries to gives Ames and her younger sister, Chrissy, the perfect life - a huge, perfectly designed home, the best private school education, and an army of friends. Mrs. Ford, however, is a bit over-controlling. Chrissy is a sweetheart of a littel girl as well as a wonderful younger sister. All of this comes crushing down, however, when Mr. Ford is "downsized". While he tries to reassure his family that all will be well, Ames soon learns that her father was in fact fired due to embezzlement. She also learns that her college fund has been raided and that family is deeply in debt.

The family takes off to Texas to her fraternal grandparents' home. Grandparents that Ames never knew she had due to her father's lies. When she finds that she's to live in a former crackhouse, it is about the last straw. The family is befriended by Marc, who got in touch with them through a mutual online friend. Marc's sympathetic attitude toward Ames comforts her. and they hook up. When she finds that Marc is actually much older than the family thought and has an arsenal of guns, she is strangely excited. Then he suggests that they kill her parents...

Edgy, suspenseful, haunting...it's all there. I won't forget this one for a long time, if ever.

Frisco Reads!

2010-10-28T14:12:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, October 26 I attended Frisco Reads 2010 at Heritage High School. Leigh Ann Jones, librarian extraordinaire and FISD library coordinator, organized a great afternoon of reading, books, and presentations.

It was my great fortune to see Gordon Korman. I found him to be very entertaining and enlightening. He's published 71 novels and wrote his first published book in the seventh grade!!!!! It was very interesting to hear his perspectives on writing. I've been reading his novels for years. I especially enjoyed Schooled, The Juvie Three, No More Dead Dogs, and Pop.

I also got to see Sonya Sones. Her books are the wildly popular girls' titles such as What My Mother Doesn't Know, One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, and What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know.

I spent so much time in the autograph lines for Gordon Korman, I didn't get to participate in any of the other activities. Too little time!

I do have pictures of the authors. If I can figure out how to get them off of my phone, I'll add them to the blog!

TBF!!!!

2010-10-20T13:40:00.000-05:00

Yes, there's an app for that! The Texas Book Festival even has its own app!!!

Books are alive and well, at least this past weekend in Austin. I attended my fourteenth Texas Book Festival and this one was exceptionally good!

While I could wax poetic about each session I attended, I'll just touch on a few things that I thought were particularly interesting to me.

FINALLY, I got to see David Wiesner and have my stack of books autographed!!! I may not work with the picture book crowd any longer, but I had to see this three-time Caldecott winner, and he didn't disappoint. He shared his new book, Art & Max. (There's a play on words here.) As he told about the creation of the book, it was like peering into the mind of a genius. I think this book could easily be used in an art class in middle school for sure. Wonder if this will add a fourth Caldecott to his mantle?

Phillip M. Hoose shared his wonderful National Book Award-winning book Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. This book won a ton of awards. Haven't read it yet. Can't wait to!

I also went to the wonderful panel discussion, "Coming of Age in a Difficult Age", with Matt de la Pena, Dana Reinhardt, and Rene Saldana, Jr. I thought Dana Reinhardt was particularly insightful especiall when she talked about writing for young adults. She thinks it should be called "Coming of Age" novels rather than YA simply because there are adults who would like to read these books but think they are only for teenagers. She also commented that young adulthood is a time of "firsts": first love, first rejection, etc. and it's great to write about those firsts.

Saturday evening I went to the Zombies vs. Unicorns smackdown. Hilarious as usual. Most of the YA authors really got into it, but I thought Dana Reinhardt was going to have a coronary! (BTW the Unicorns won!)

Usually Sunday is rather slow and less attended than Saturday, but that wasn't the case this year.

"Portals to Imagined Worlds" was moderated by Greg Leitich Smith, an author of note himself. The panel included Cinda Williams Chima (a Sunday teacherish looking person who is wickedly funny), Carolyn Cohagan, Ingrid Law (who comes from a family of "anxious women") , and Austinite Brian Yansky. (I earlier wrote about his new book Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences.) Fantastic group!

Naturally, one of the smartest people on the planet is Laurie Halse Anderson. She was on the panel "It Could've Been: Mining the Past." I really liked a comment she made concerning historical fiction. She shared that well-written historical fiction should appeal to those who like science fiction because they are similar in that they both create a place and time that is different from the present. What a great comment!

Matt de la Pena, Varian Johnson, and April Lurie spoke on the panel " Is the World Ready for My Book?" about cutting edge books. Excellent group! If you see Varian Johnson, consider what he's planning to include in his next book!

Needless to say, that four hour drive from Austin back to Frisco wasn't fun, and I'm still exhausted, but it was well-worth the time!

How to Build a House

2010-10-14T15:04:00.000-05:00

Every year I take the opportunity to go to the Texas Book Festival in Austin. This year it's in the middle of October rather than the first part of November. There are a number of really outstanding authors, and I hope to blog about them when I get back.

One of the authors scheduled to appear is Dana Reinhardt. I've not seen her before, and I'm excited to hear her present. In preparation for the festival, I purchased several of her books at the 75% Off Bookstore in Plano. (I actually got this one for 99 cents!)

How to Build a House is a quick read. Harper goes to Bailey, Tennessee to help build a house for a family who lost theirs in a tornado. Actually, she's running away because life has been rather tough for her lately. Her mother died when she was two. Her father married a wonderful woman, Jane, a lawyer with two daughters, Tess and Rose. The girls bond as close sisters. Jane and her father also have a son together, Cole. Harper's also got a fantastic long-time best friend, Gabriel.

That part of her life sounds pretty peachy until Jane leaves Harper's dad taking Tess, Rose, and Cole with her. Later she learns that the split is due to her beloved father's infidelity. To console herself, she changes her platonic friendly relationship with Gabriel. While they aren't officially a "couple," she is devastated when she discovers Tess making out with Gabriel at a party. From then on, her relationship with Jane and Tess is fractured.

Being the environmentally friendly person that she is, she determines that the best way is to build, rather than tear-down, a home. In Bailey, she meets some like-minded teens, but it is Teddy, the son of the owners of the blown-away house that captures her attention.

The chapters are divided into "Home" sections which are episodic flashbacks and "Here" sections which chronicle the happenings as the teens build the house. The house metaphor reflects Harper putting her life back together after the turbulent events of the last year.

Harper learns a great deal about herself and about house building in her journey of self-discovery. While this may not have the excitement of some novels, it is a good, solid story.

I'd recommend this to girls eighth grade and up.

Payback Time

2010-10-08T09:22:00.000-05:00

One of the many joys of working at Greenhill School is having students who actually read and read A LOT! They can also discuss books intelligently. This is heaven for a librarian!

One of our middle school boys' favorite authors is Carl Deuker and rightly so. They anxiously awaited the arrival of his new novel, Payback Time. In fact, two of them camped out in the library until I could enter it in the catalog and slap a barcode on the two copies I purchased for our collection. After their glowing feedback and the starred review in Booklist, I thought I'd give it a try.

Unfortunately for me, I had a really busy week. This book was so good I really didn't want to put it down. It is part football and part thriller with just a tiny dose of romance. Mitch True, the protagonist, is an overweight senior in high school who aspires to be a journalist and hopes to attend Columbia University. After he loses the editorship of his school newspaper, he's assigned to cover sports. While not initially thrilled about this, he soon embraces his assignment and starts scouting out the football team during summer practice. He immediately notices a new outstanding player, Angel Marichal, but is confused when Coach McNulty seems to ignore his immense talent. When Mitch teams with the school newspaper's photographer, Kimi Yon, they notices there's something very different about this player. He seems much older and more mature. Plus he keeps his distance from everyone else on the team and at school. This is not the typical high school jock.

Mitch and Kimi team to figure out the mystery of Angel Marchial. I won't give away the ending, but there are twists and turns that keep the novel humming along at a quick clip. Rather than a simple mystery, it becomes a thriller. I was on the edge of my seat to find out what happened next. Just like Gym Candy, Carl Deuker gives his protagonist a moral dilemma and has him work through it. Unlike Gym Candy, the use of a reporter's voice and viewpoint rather than the athlete brings a new dimension to the story.

We need more books like this for boys. I know Carl Deuker is a teacher, and I fully respect the time it takes to do that job properly, but I think I agree with one of my students who told me, "He needs to quit his day job and write more books."

Harper Lee

2010-10-04T10:30:00.000-05:00

How does one write a biography of a living person without that person's blessing or support? Apparently pretty well at least in the case of Harper Lee: A Twentieth-Century Life by Kerry Madden. Because Ms. Madden could not interview Harper Lee, she relies on primary source materials and a variety of source notes to support her ideas as she compares the life of Harper Lee to Scout, the main character in To Kill a Mockingbird.

While there are many similarities, Harper Lee did not write a totally autobiographical novel. As any good novelist will do, she was carefully selective in what she chose to include in her book. Many of the connections were made by her childhood friend, Truman Capote, who, as everyone knows, was "Dill" in the book.

Since my fascination with the "rediscovered" To Kill a Mockingbird this summer, I already knew most of what was covered in the biography. The archival photos added a dimension to the story that I had not seen before. What was interesting, however, was the notion that Harper Lee has written another novel. Will it every be published? Only the elusive Ms. Lee will every know.

The Private Thoughts of Amelia E. Rye

2010-09-30T10:35:00.000-05:00

Grandpa Thomas said

...all a person needs in life is one true friend.

He also said

You have to let things happen in their own good time.

Both of these statements foreshadow the events in The Private Thoughts of Amelia E. Rye by Bonnie Shimko. Sometime in the 1960s in the small town of Sullivan's Falls, New York, fourth grader Amelia Earhart Rye feels like a loser. Her mother shows her no compassion and the little bit of love she does have comes from her grandfather, formerly the town drunk. Her father left the family before she was born, and she wonders if she'll ever meet him. Things change, however, when she finds a "secret friend." "Fancy" Nelson is African American and Amelia knows that her mother would not allow her to have an African American friend. Fancy is everything and has everything that Amelia wishes she had - a loving, supporting mother, beautiful clothes, and a gorgeous home. Fancy has a secret as well - much more significant and far reaching than Amelia's, however.

Things get more complicated for Amelia when her beloved grandfather has a stroke and moves to Shady Oaks, "the nursing home run by the county for people who don't have much money." She befriends Margo LaRue, the woman her father ran off with before she was born. Her much older sister comes to visit, and Amelia learns that her mother has a heart condition which could take her life at any time. Later her older brother visits after his stint in jail. Jack didn't even know she existed, but the two hit it off immediately.

Since the protagonist is so young, I initially wondered why the book was recommended for an older reader. Amelia does progress from a scrawny fourth grader to a more polished, sophisticated seventh grader in the story. Even more, she emerges from a full-fledged lying brat to a more poised young woman whose life has changed for the better who finally realizes how much her mother sacrificed for her future.

I really liked Amelia. She's an engaging, three-dimensional character, and I really cared what happened to her. Fancy is also an interesting supporting character who really helps Amelia get through some difficult times. While Amelia's mother does not come off as a sympathetic person, even she redeems herself in the end.

Even though set in the sixties, there are few references to the time period - Amelia thinks Fancy's mother looks like Mrs. Cleaver, they watch The Lawrence Welk Show, Grandpa Thomas smells of Old Spice, and Margo LaRue sells Avon. Brings back a lot of memories.

Enjoy this little charmer.

The Sweetness of Salt

2010-09-18T13:47:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid, I was always fascinated when my dad would salt his grapefruit or his watermelon. When I asked him why, he told me that the salt brought out the sweetness of the fruit. When I tried it, I understood. At the time I never thought of this as a metaphor for life. Life is much sweeter when you've had trials and tribulations. You can appreciate the good things so much more.

In The Sweetness of Salt, Julia is just about the perfect girl. She's graduating as the valedictorian of her senior class, has a free ride at a prestigious university to become a lawyer like her dad, and will start a coveted internship for the summer. Life is just terrific except when her sister, Sophie, shows up. Sophie is the antithesis of Julia. While smart, she rebelled against her family, had a child out of wedlock, didn't go to college, and lives in a small town in Vermont where she plans to open a bakery.

It's lie. And you know it's a lie. Until you tell her the truth about what really happened in Milford all those years ago...

When Julia hears those words, it rocks her world. Later, in the VW bug that her sister gave her for a graduation present, Julia sets out to Vermont to discover the secrets her sister has alluded to, and in turn, discovers herself as well.

Julia is a gutsy character. At the beginning of the story she thinks she's got the world all figured out until Sophie holds a mirror to her face. Julia realizes that her passion doesn't lie with the law and that she must share her feelings with the boy she's adored. Conversely, Sophie is a confused young woman who must come to grips with a family secret that has haunted her from childhood.

One of the aspects of the book that I really loved was The Table of Knowledge - a bunch of old coots who sat around a table drinking coffee every morning. This is typical small town and very authentic. I liked that these men weren't written off in a casual way - that they were valued for their knowledge and expertise.

This type of book can be heavy-handed. In many ways it played out like a Hallmark movie. Both sisters learned from each other, shared difficulty experiences, and both followed their hearts at the end. Even the romantic aspects worked out. Wouldn't it be nice if life were like that?

I read this as an advanced reader's copy that I picked up at TLA.

Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences

2010-09-17T09:38:00.001-05:00

I think heaven's got to be a bit like Austin. (Spoken like a true Texan, huh?) It's not surprising that Brian Yansky lives in Austin and sets Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences in our fair capital city!

I read Alien Invasion this summer from an ARC that I received at TLA and followed it with I Am Number Four. Are aliens the new vampires? If all the books were as good as these two, I'm psyched!

I am Lord Vertenomous and I claim this planet in the name of the Republic of Sanginia. You have been conquered by the greatest beings in the known universe. It took ten seconds.

Unlike almost everyone else, Jesse has not been destroyed because he is "superior product." He and a few other teenagers have telepathic powers which makes them valuable to Lord Vertenemous. Jesse, however, isn't about to sit back and take it. When he begins to work with the other "superior products" and hears the voice of a mysterious girl, he knows they have powers the Sanginians have not recognized.

I am wondering if this will be a series. Hopefully I'll see Mr. Yansky at the TFB, and he'll let us know.

Somebody Everybody Listens To

2010-09-16T08:39:00.001-05:00

You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try.

--Dolly Parton

I'm not really a country music fan although I cannot listen to anything but country music when I'm in Nashville (go figure). However,I do respect country music and did really enjoy Somebody Everybody Listens To by Suzanne Supplee. A Tennessee native who worked in the offices of the Country Music Association, it is obvious that Ms. Supplee knows her stuff.

Each chapter opens with a short list of biographical facts about individual country music stars and the challenges s/he faced. This is followed up with a reference to that singer's music in the context of the chapter. Very clever!

Talented Retta Lee Jones, a Taylor Swift wannabe, has just graduated from high school and wants to make it as a country singer. So, of course, she moves to Nashville. Although gifted, she finds that life isn't all that easy and that she's just one of many who want to make it big. Coming from a small town, Retta's naivete and trusting nature are tested and well as her determination. Lucky for her, she is befriended by Ricky, a tow-truck driver; Emerson, a clerk in a bookstore; and enigmatic Chat. Some of these people seem too good to be true, but then there ARE some really nice, friendly people in Nashville so I didn't have any trouble believing them.

While talented, what Retta doesn't have is her own voice. She can sound like other country singers, but she must figure out who she is. Fortunately, when she sings her own music, her true talent comes to the forefront.

Chick lit? Yes. Predictable? Yes. Unique? Yes. I don't read much about country music in YA lit, and I'm sure there's a place for it. Retta (love the name) is a memorable character and Ms. Supplee doesn't provide a total fairy tale ending - just enough to make us keep singing.

This Family is Driving Me Crazy

2010-09-12T13:45:00.001-05:00

Short stories are generally not big ticket items in middle school except for required reading. In fact, I can't remember one time when someone requested a book of short stories.

The title of this book, however, got me to pick it up to read. My family has always driven me crazy. (They can probably say the same thing about me.) I hoped this would be a funny read.

I have to say I loved David Lubar's story, "Orway Otnay Otay eBay" the best because it was so hilarious! The unnamed protagonist, bored from being without electricity due to a power outage caused by a hurricane, reads some old books that his father recommends. When he cannot find volume seven, he resorts to Ebay to find it. While there, he discovers there is a market for all of the old junk that his father has collected over the years and refines his writing style by marketing the junk to make money. The premise doesn't sound funny, but the master, David Lubar, has the ability to make a simple situation into a laugh-out-loud story.

Other middle school favorites add their "pens" to the mix - Gordon Korman, Mel Glenn, Nancy Springer, John H. Ritter, Jack Gantos, Sharon Dennis Wyeth, Dian Curtis Regan, Joan Bauer, and Water Dean Myers.

Enjoy!

The Water Seeker

2010-09-11T13:15:00.002-05:00

"In her dreams, she heard a baby cry. Then she saw herself standing by a long winding river. A baby floated by, his little arms stretching toward her. But try as she did, she could not reach him. Downriver, a woman picked up the baby and handed him to another woman. That woman handed him to yet another. And so it went, the baby being passd down through a chain of women along the river. This dream occurred so often, Delilah started to think of it as a premonition. No matter what, she believed her child was destined for trials and tribulations. He would struggle. Delilah was certain of it."

I've loved Kimberly Willis Holt's writing since I read My Louisiana Sky in Betty Carter's book reviewing class. There's a lyricalness to her writing that I seldom see. Her work is always characterized by strong voice. This book is no different.

The Water Seeker's protagonist is Amos Kincaid. His roaming father is a "dowser" who doesn't value his gift. His mother dies giving birth to him, and Amos is given to several people to raise until his free-wheeling father returns with his Native American wife to take him to Oregon Territory. This is when the story begins to gel. The trip to the Willamette Valley is hard and filled with pitfalls and hardships, but Amon not only survives, he thrives by embracing his talent and looking beyond the surface.

While I enjoyed the book, I did have several concerns. There were some elements of magical realism that I felt didn't really work in the story, but fortunately were not distracting to the plot. I also wondered if the students know what a dowser is and if they would be attracted to the story. (I think the cover art is a definite deterrent.) Do middle school kids ever read historical fiction? without it being assigned?

While there's not a lot of new ground covered in the book and the plot is very predictable, I enjoyed The Water Seeker.

The Brooklyn Nine

2010-09-10T09:50:00.000-05:00

"One family, nine gererations.

One city, nine innings of baseball."

I'm always on the lookout for sports books for boys. I have boys that have read virtually every sports book in the library and are always on the prowl for more. This really tends to keep me on my toes trying to find books for them to read.

That's the reason I picked up The Brookyn Nine: A Novel in Nine Innings by Alan Gratz. I was expecting the usual sports fare, but I actually got a lot more. Gratz carefully crafts his story to fit into nine "innings" highlighting nine generations of a family obsessed with baseball. Not all of the family members are male; Gratz includes a member of the All-American Girls Professional Ball League in one of the innings. All, however, are from Brooklyn.

Gratz brilliantly blends well-researched historical events with the fictionalized characters' obsession with America's favorite passtime. While a knowledge of history may be helpful, it really isn't necessary to understand the plot of the novel.

Just as every generation of a family has a few "shady" souls, Gratz's characters are not all perfect. They are well-realized, three dimensional, believable characters. His descriptions of time and place are impeccable. There's a movie-like feel to the stories.

I think this one is a grand slam homer!

The Total Tragedy of a Girl named Hamlet

2010-09-09T08:39:00.001-05:00

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but there was something about this illustration and the title that just caught my attention and made me want to read the book.

Hamlet Kennedy looks forward to her eighth grade year. She doesn't want to stand out - just be a part of the crowd. However, her genius seven year old sister, Desdemona ("Dezzie"), who has been home schooled, needs some fine arts credits before she starts college next year. While Hamlet handles her sister's brilliance, she has difficulty when the most popular girls at school befriend her sister with what she knows are ulterior motives.

Hamlet's parents are also a bit over the top. Both are college professors who dress and speak like they live in Elizabethan England. This isn't exactly what every eighth grade girl wishes when she hopes to fly under the radar in school. And now with Dezzie in her classes...

Hamlet's not without her gifts, however. When her literature teachers pulls out recitations from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet finds that she, too, is gifted.

While this book isn't going to win awards, it is an enjoyable read that middle school girls may enjoy.

Thodore Boone: Kid Lawyer

2010-09-08T08:18:00.000-05:00

I get a lot of grief because I really enjoy John Grisham's books. I've read almost all of them, and I have several seventh and eighth grade boys that also enjoy his books. Some will even go out and purchase the titles because they can't wait for the book to be processed in the library.

When I saw that Grisham was writing for kids, I was a little cautious. However, I can say that I enjoyed Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer. Grisham's latest protagonist, Theo, is an eighth grader with parents and an uncle that are lawyers. He also aspires to be a lawyer - so much so that he dispenses legal advice to his classmates. Because of this, he gets involved in a murder case which is over his head.

Theo inevitably does the right thing, but that serves as the basis for the novel. Should he betray a confidence when he knows it will solve the murder case?

There's plenty of Southern folksy charm in the small town of Strattenburg which is hallmark of Grisham's writing. There's never a lot of character development; the plot suffices. (hmmm... wonder if this is why boys are attracted to this writing). I do have a feeling that we'll be seeing more of Theodore Boone.

King of the Screwups

2010-08-29T14:13:00.001-05:00

Sometimes there's a character that really tugs at your heartstrings. One that you just want to hug and make it better. One that just needs someone to love them. Liam Geller is one of those characters.

Liam is every girl's dream guy. He's a senior, attractive, funny, popular, straight, and has a fabulous fashion sense that he inherited from his top runway model mother. Unfortunately for Liam, however, his father finds no satisfaction in any of those attributes. When Liam's wealthy, high-powered dad finds him in a compromising situation in the study, Mrs. Geller ships her son to live with his "aunt" Pete. "Aunt" Pete is a gay glam-rocker disc jockey who lives in upstate New York in a trailer - not a mobile home, but a TRAILER.

"That's when I realize my life has truly changed. It's like this whole time I've been playing some elaborate game, but the minute he hands me the spinach, I understand. This isn't a game. No one's coming to get me. I'm going to live with this man.

I will now eat frozen spinach straight from the box and wear wrinkled Kenneth Cole shirts until the day I'm released from trailer-park prison.

Life is officially over."

But life isn't over. After a few mishaps, Liam realizes that he has the opportunity to reinvent himself to be the son his father always wanted. He also finds himself wanting to please his "Aunt" Pete's neighbor, Darleen, who has a very low opinion of him.

Young adult books are characterized by the search for self, and this title is no exception. Liam not only searches for his identity, but he must also realize that he must be true to himself before he can please others. While some of the story is over the top, Liam comes across as a well-rounded, three dimensional character. Flashbacks in the story evidence Liam's need to be loved and accepted by his father. His growth is almost palpable.

Mature eighth graders and high school students may really enjoy King of the Screwups by K.L. Going.

My Boyfriends' Dogs

2010-08-28T10:12:00.003-05:00

"My mother says that faling in love and getting dumped is good for you becaue it prepares you for the real thing, like it gets you ready for true love and all, but I'm thinking it's more like climbing up the St. Louis Arch and falling off twice. Does that first fall really get you ready for the second?"

I'm a sucker for a dog book. I read and cried over Old Yeller, A Dog Called Kitty, Where the Red Fern Grows, Marley and Me, Because of Winn Dixie . . . so when I saw this book displayed at The Tattered Cover in Denver, I knew I had to read it, and I wasn't the least bit disappointed with this charmer.

Bailey Daley spills into a closing St. Louis cafe wearing a rain-soaked prom dress in the company of three smelly, wet dogs. In the cafe are three gentlemen: Louis, the cafe owner; Rune, the identity-crisis counter guy; and Staring Corner Guy, Colt. All are curious about how Bailey got to be there. Before you know it, Bailey tells the guys the stories of her three "falls" and the dogs she inherited from each former boyfriend.

I loved these characters. Bailey is a typical high school girl who desperately wants a boyfriend to make her life perfect. Her garage sale loving mother is a well-rounded character which is rare in YA fiction. The boyfriends may be a bit of cliche, but I identified them easily. Of course, I also loved Adam and Eve and Shirley.

It didn't take long to figure out how the book was going to end, but I LOVE happy endings, and Bailey certainly deserved a happy ending.

Chick lit, sure, but a real keeper. Woof!

My Boyfriends' Dogs: The Tales of Adam and Eve and Shirley by Dandi Daley Mackall

Reality Check

2010-08-27T11:57:00.001-05:00

Okay, I said I'd share more of the books that I read this summer. I'm not really a mystery/crime reader; however, when I actually read a mystery or crime novel, I enjoy it. I guess it's not my FAVORITE genre and I have limited amounts of time to read. Who knows?

Anyway, one of my library colleagues, the amazing Phillipa Anderson, is a big fan of Peter Abrahams. When she noticed that I ordered Reality Check, she wanted to read it. This piqued my curiosity. This is on the Tayshas List, and I know a number of my students enjoy reading from that list. I'd probably recommend this to a mature eighth grader and older.

"Screw your courage to the sticking-place / And we'll not fail."

Sixteen year old Cody Laredo is the quarterback for County High in Little Bend, Colorado. Although he's from the "wrong" side of the tracks and makes grades only good enough to be eligible for the team, he's dating Clea Watson, a beauty and the daughter of the wealthiest man in town. Clea's dad, however, does not approve of the relationship and ships Clea to the prestigious Dover Academy in North Dover, Vermont. Prior to her leaving, Cody breaks up with Clea, leaving her heartbroken.

Cody drops out of school when he tears his ACL during football and his college hopes evaporate. Life falls into dull routine until sees a newspaper with the headline "Local Girl Missing." Of course, the "local girl" is Clea. By strange coincidence, he also receives a letter from Clea postmarked on the day she went missing. In the letter she writes, "It's hard to know who to trust sometimes." Is this a clue?

After Clea's dad suffers a heart attack, Cody leaves for Vermont to find Clea. When he gets there, however, he's like a duck out of water. Everything exudes class and sophistication which is far from his life in Little Bend. His efforts to find Clea seem rather hopeless, and her words come back to haunt him. "It's hard to know who to trust sometimes." Cody, however, learns that he can trust himself and his instincts.

Summer Reading

2010-08-26T14:31:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I took a break this summer and didn't blog. I'm sure all of my devout readers were SO disappointed - especially since I have no devout readers! Anyway, I DID read this summer. I reread To Kill a Mockingbird because the book was celebrating 50 years in print. I hadn't read it since high school. I must say I stilled loved it as much as I did initially.I also watched the movie again. Gregory Peck WAS Atticus Finch. I found it interesting that Harper Lee gave Gregory Peck her father's watch, and it was in his pocket when he won the Academy Award. I always wanted Atticus to be my father. or maybe Gregory Peck???

ANYWAY...

"THE EVENTS IN THIS BOOK ARE REAL.

NAMES AND PLACES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT THE LORIEN SIX, WHO REMAIN IN HIDING.

TAKE THIS AS YOUR FIRST WARNING.

OTHER CIVILIZATIONS DO EXIST.

SOME OF THEM SEEK TO DESTROY YOU."

One of the books I read was I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore. (Pittacus Lore must be a pseudonym because he's also mentioned as a character in the book!) This was one of the books that I picked up last spring at TLA. Aliens on earth??? This must be the new trend because I read two alien books this summer.

The premise of the story is that "John Smith" and his guardian, Henri, are aliens posing as humans to escape the evil Mogadorians. The Mogadorians destroyed the planet Lorien for its resources and are working to destroy Earth. Nine children and their guardians escaped to Earth. The rule is that the Mogadorians must kill the Lorien children in order. Three have already been killed, and "John Smith" knows his turn is next.

John and Henri are not just attempting to save their own lives. They must be successful in order to save Earth as well. For those who like romance, there's a touch of this in the book. Those who like action and suspense will not be disappointed either.

While this sounds far-fetched, it was actually a very enjoyable read. And, of course, it's the first in a series that I think a lot of kids will enjoy, especially those who enjoyed The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner.

I'll do my best to blog about my other summer reads.

Ciao!

Deep in the Heart of High School

2010-08-23T08:10:00.000-05:00

Deep in the Heart of High School by Veronica Goldbach caught my attention for several reasons. It's set in San Antonio, a city I know well. It's also about band, another subject I know VERY well.

Vanna Reynold has just moved to San Antonio from her well-manicured neighborhood in Plano. Her parents have recently divorced. She and her mother now live in a two-bedroom apartment and she becomes a band member in an inner city high school.

Fatima Garcia has a loving family, but her mother insists that she needs to lose weight. She's a good student and assists in her dad's construction business. When the school hunk, Carlos Jones, pays her attention, she's thrilled.

Olivia Silverstein's dad died two years ago. Since then she diligently tries to be the perfect daughter and to help her mother giving up many of her own activities. She has a major crush on Travis Martinez, but doesn't have the courage to talk to him despite her friends' encouragement.

The three girls immediately hit it off at band camp in the summer preparing for all of the football games, parades, and performances for the year. They rely on each other as the trial and tribulations of the freshman year unfold.

While this isn't the greatest writing, I did find the voices to ring true. Goldbach knows San Antonio, the culture, and band (which may be a cult in and of itself) and it creates an authenticity that I appreciated. I talked about the book so much that my band director husband read the book as well even though he doesn't want to admit it.

I loved this quote:

"Vanna watched San Antonio pass by. The city looked very different from the subdivisions of matching brick houses and clean paved streets she'd grown up around. In San Antonio, there were houses painted random bright colors: pinks, purples, oranges, greens. Nothing matched. Huge statues of the Virgin Mary seemed to be the lawn art of choice, and people still had their Christmas lights up in April."

So true!

Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto

2010-05-10T12:34:00.002-05:00

This is another advanced reader's copy that I picked up at TLA. Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto is by Eric Luper and published by Balzer & Bray (HarperCollins.)

Seth's summer isn't starting so well. His girlfriend just dumped him, he discovers that his father is seeing a woman who is NOT his mother, and he just got fired from his last job (the fourth time he's lost a job!). Because his mom hosts a radio program called "Gayle's Romantic Rendezvous," he decides to podcast his own "radio" show which he entitles his "Love Manifesto" and share his miseries anonymously with the world. Of course, the "anonymous" gets lost after awhile. Things even go further downhill when he and his best friend, Dimitri, go their separate ways and he finds himself attracted to Dimitri's younger sister, Audrey.

There's not a lot of new ground in this book, but it is an entertaining read. Seth's voice rings true, the situations are believable, and life doesn't necessarily end happily ever after, but Seth learns he can deal with it.

This book would probably be better suited to students in eighth grade and above.

After Ever After

2010-04-30T11:42:00.002-05:00

"And truthfully, it took me about five tries before I could even understand what the guy was saying: That from now on, no kid could get promoted from grade four, eight, or eleven unless he passed the huge, horrifying state standardized tests in April.

I was screwed. I know my dad would have a cow, and that as soon as he saw it, he'd start pushing math on me so hard that every time I sneezed, fractions would fly out my nose."

After Ever After is the sequel To Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. I haven't read D,G, and DP, but it wasn't a problem because this book stands alone.

Eighth grader Jeffrey Alper has all the typical middle school angst - a possible girlfriend, parents that don't understand him, a sarcastic best friend, and trouble with math. But Jeffrey is suffering from after effects of childhood cancer - learning problems and a permanent limp which make him very self-conscious. His best friend, Tad, is also a cancer survivor who is now in a wheelchair. Because the state of New Jersey requires eighth graders to pass "The Test" in order to pass to high school, Jeffrey and Tad make a pact - Tad will tutor Jeffrey in math and Jeffrey will help Tad relearn to walk so that he can walk across the stage at graduation. Things seem to be going pretty well for Jeffrey. He's got a girlfriend, Lindsey, he's doing much better in math and his dad is happy, and he's a madman on his bike preparing for the annual bikeathon for cancer. That is, until Tad relapses.

Jordan Sonnenblick really understands the middle school mind. His dialogue is spot-on and laugh out loud funny. (The Coach on page 41 totally cracked me up.) He also made a strong statement about the ridiculous reliance on high-stakes testing.

I loved this book, but make sure you have a box of hankies nearby.

The Cardturner: A Novel About A King, A Queen, and A Joker

2010-04-27T11:08:00.003-05:00

Okay, okay, okay...I know I haven't blogged in a long while. I've been immersed in research research research and haven't had the time to do much else. I feel like I'm getting to be an expert in MLA and Chicago Manual of Style. I've looked at hundreds of citations, but now....

I finally get to READ!!!! I picked up the advanced reader's copy of Louis Sachar's latest book at TLA. It's entitled The Cardturner: A Novel About a King, a Queen, and a Joker and published by Delacorte Press. Louis Sachar is an avid bridge player and this book really deals with bridge.

Rising senior, Alton Richards, narrates the book. He feels pretty much like a loser. His girlfriend dropped him for his best friend, he can't get a job, and his dad just lost his job. His money-grubbing parents strongly encourage him to drive his elderly, blind, RICH "favorite" great-uncle to his bridge club four times a week and serve as his "cardturner." Lester Trapp's blindness has been caused by diabetes, but when Alton reads him his bridge hand, he has no problem memorizing the cards. Alton's parents pressure him to ensure that they figure prominently in his uncle's will. Could the summer get any worse?

Oddly enough, Alton begins to enjoy the bridge games, makes friends, and learns more about the curmudgeonly Trapp. Because Alton's car is such a clunker, his uncle even buys him a car (a hybrid, of course.) He befriends his uncle's former cardturner, Toni Castaneda, and they begin a bridge partnership that involves more than just the game. (Read the book, you'll see what I mean, it's not necessarily what you are thinking.) When Trapp dies after forgetting a card, the story goes a little over the top.

There's a LOT of bridge in this book. I mean a LOT. Sachar explains in detail each component of the game. Fortunately, he provides shortcuts: "Whenever you see the picture of the whale, it means I'm about to go into some detail about bridge. If that makes you zone out, then skip ahead to the summary box and I'll give you the short version." Needless to say, I zoned a lot, but reading the short version kept me in the novel.

I'll be interested to see if teens will enjoy this book. I wonder if they can see past all of the "bridge talk" and get through the plot. Some may say kids aren't interested in bridge and won't read the book, but I had a number of friends in high school (back when the earth's crust cooled) who actually learned to play bridge after Spades became too lame.

We'll see.

Killer Pizza

2010-02-16T13:02:00.003-06:00

Well, I got back on the Lone Star bandwagon to read Killer Pizza by Greg Taylor. The title and cover looked intriguing, but I was really disappointed. I felt the book was derivative of a number of books, only NOT done as well.

The main character of the story, Toby, gets a summer job at the new restaurant in town, Killer Pizza, with menu items such as Frankensausage, Fantastic Hawaiian, Monstrosity, Beasties, Mummy Wraps, Vampire Stakes, Demon Horns, and Wolf Tongue. Toby's secret desire is to be a chef after watching hours of the Food Network. His coworkers are Strobe, Annabel, and Doug. After a few weeks in the kitchen, Toby, Strobe, and Annabel are summoned to the manager's office where Doug turns out to be "Harvey," the owner of Killer Pizza. He'd been watching the kids to see if they were candidates for MCOs - Monster Combat Officers. Apparently, average-looking people turn into guttatas, fierce-looking beasts who bite people to create more guttatas. I think you get the idea ...

There really wasn't any new ground covered in Killer Pizza. It's an easy read. Kids who like the Percy Jackson series or Harry Potter might like it although it's not nearly as good.

Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, read the book.

Charles and Emma: The Darwins Leap of Faith

2010-02-09T10:52:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I fudged a bit. I'm not finished reading all of the new selections on the Lone Star list, but I decided to take a break and read Charles and Emma: The Darwins Leap of Faith. This book won a ton of awards: National Book Award finalist, the first Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award winner, a Printz Honor, BBYA, and the Tayshas List. That's not including all the starred reviews and "Best of the Best" lists! So... you can see why I was so tempted.

I DID enjoy reading Charles and Emma. I found their story enchanting. At the beginning of the book, Charles is contemplating marriage. He makes a chart and lists the pros under "Marry" and the cons under "Not Marry."
Between the two, he writes "This is the Question." Since he didn't have anyone particularly in mind at the time, makes it even more comical. It was as if he was on the "hunt." He finally decided on his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, of the famous pottery family. Emma did not need to marry as was the custom of the time because of her family's wealth, and she had turned down several offers of marriage. When he proposed, she accepted although the two did not know each other well.

The irony of all of this, is that Emma was devoutly religious and all her married life worried that her husband would not join her in heaven after death due to his scientific beliefs. While Charles desperately loved his wife, he was not willing to give up his science for her beliefs. Also, Emma read all of Charles's writings and gave feedback in order to improve his arguments.

The two flourished together. Charles had a stable life, a wife who tended to his frequent illnesses, and supported his research. Emma had the ability to think on her own and was more of her husband's equal than most marriages of the day. They had ten children, three of whom died prior to adulthood.

There's science in the book and a biography of the two, but most of all, it's a love story of two very different people who were stronger together than they were individually.

Graceling

2010-02-03T14:00:00.002-06:00

I just finished listening to the Full Cast audio production of Graceling by Kristin Cashore. This book got rave reviews from all of the review sources. Even though I'm not really a fantasy reader, I looked forward to listening to it because of the reviews.

I thought the presentation was well done for the most part. The voices were excellent and there was sufficient suspense and excitement in the narrator's voice. The voices were also well-cast IMHO. However, the hokey music nearly drove me nuts! I hate music orchestrated electronically to TRY to sound like real instruments plus this little theme was very trite. It reminded me of old movies from the '30s and '40s where the music tried to "help" create the tone of the story. Yuck! Dum dum dummmmmmmmm!

Now about the book - whew! I was surprised this one made it on the Lone Star List. Booklist suggested it for grades 9-12 and SLJ recommended it for eight and up. I would feel quite comfortable with eighth graders and many seventh graders reading the book, but I do have some concerns over some younger students.

The story's main character is Katsa, a "graceling" with the ability to kill. Gracelings are noted as such by two different colored eyes and having a special ability not shared by us mere mortals. Katsa learns about her grace when she kills a man trying to grope her as a young girl. King Randa realizes that this is a powerful gift for him to exploit, which he does. Katsa goes about doing the King's bidding until she meets Po, a prince from a neighboring kingdom. Po is also "graced." Because of his attachment and support of Katsa, she finds the strength to defy the King and leave with Po. Of course, a love affair ensues between Katsa and Po. Later they meet Po's young cousin, Bitterblue, who is the princess of Monsea, a neighboring kingdom. After Bitterblue's father, King Leck, kills her mother and has designs on his own daughter, Katsa and Po take responsibility for saving the girl. The ensuing quest makes up the majority of the story.

I read an online review of the book that really liked all of the action in the story. I thought that was an interesting comment because I thought the story was rather slow. When I reflected on the comment, I realized that reading a book and listening to it are very different. Reading is a much faster process than listening. It probably does move a lot faster for a reader. A reader has the ability to skip over slow parts or lots of descriptions if desired, but the listener must accept the pace of the reader and listen to each and every word. I truly prefer reading over listening, but commutes go a lot faster when listening to books. I guess that's the trade-off.

The Red Blazer Girls

2010-02-01T14:16:00.002-06:00

"School librarians are very territorial."

Here's the Catholic school girl version of Nancy Drew - the Red Blazer Girls. This is obviously the first of many in a new series by Michael D. Beil. Book-junkie Sophie St. Pierre and her BFFs Margaret (the Brainiac) Wrobel who finds it fun to read the Harvard Classics and Rebecca Chen pal up to solve a twenty year old mystery involving letters, clues, and mathematical equations in their all-girl Catholic girls' school, St. Veronica's (St. V's). The girls meet a mysterious older woman who lives in part of the school. Her daughter's grandfather left a trail of clues to a very valuable ring for the girl's birthday that was never discovered. The three girls agree to help find the ring but run into all types of madness and mayhem before the final conclusion. Of course, there's the usual seventh grade angst and romantic flirtations that would be a part of any "chick lit" novel these days.

Besides references to the Harvard classics, Beil also alludes to Dickens throughout the book due to the fact that the girls' literature teacher, Mr. Eliot, is a major Dickens fan; it's helpful to have read Great Expectations. There's also many reference to items held in a Catholic church.

This is the kind of naive story a lot of girls' parents hope they are reading. About the worst thing that happens is a "confession" of stealing years prior. These girls are pretty tame. Even the titles of the chapters are reminiscent of Winnie the Pooh:

Chapter 6: In which Otto Frank provides moral guidance, and mold spores are redeemed.

My biggest concern was this:

Why hadn't the school's librarian weeded that collection in twenty years?

Have a cup of coffee at Perkatory and answer that one for me.

North of Beautiful

2010-01-26T07:58:00.002-06:00

I really liked North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley. I thought it was a good "girl book" to be included in the new Lone Star list. Interestingly, however, it didn't make BBYA. Hmm... wonder why?

There IS a lot going on in this book. Like so many YA books, there is a search for self, but this time the search for self includes learning that there is an inner beauty and a beauty in strength against adversity. Since there was a middle-aged mom who also echoed this in the novel, I'd even suggest this for moms to read.

One aspect of the novel that I felt a little difficult to believe was the China aspect. Isn't it interesting that Terra's brother lives and works in China and just happens to give Terry and her mother tickets to visit China, and Jacob is Chinese going back to the orphanage of his childhood? While I found this part of the book most interesting, it just seemed a little too pat.

Terra's father, unfortunately, reminded me too much of mine. I'm sure there are those who will read the book who will be unable to believe such people exist, but they do. There was great justice at the end when Mrs. Cooper in a passive-aggressive way finally gets her say.

The whole geocaching motif was fun! I'd love to look into doing that. Wonder if there are any at Greenhill?

Stitches

2010-01-25T08:09:00.003-06:00

I've been a bit under the weather lately and have had a ton of classes. I only mention this because I actually HAVE read a lot lately, but I haven't had time to blog.

First of all, I'm not a big graphic novel reader. It's not that I have anything against graphic novels. I didn't read comics as a kid, but I really wanted to read Stitches by David Small. I've seen him speak (along with his adoring wife, Sarah Stewart) several times. In those presentations, he's alluded to the fact that art pretty much saved his life. He also spoke with passion about keeping arts education in schools in his Caldecott speech. It wasn't until I read this book, however, did I realize how art was his savior.

I found this book difficult to read on so many levels. First of all, the emotional distance that is so evident in the book is literally palpable to the reader. How can someone come from such a cold home devoid of love to create such joyful picture books for kids? Then there's the physical pain from the stitches in his throat for the excision of the cancer brought about by the x-rays that his dad subjected him to as a child.

Small conveys the isolation, loneliness, and despair beautifully through his drab, harsh illustrations. Throughout the book, I felt Small's cartharsis.

Not for middle school students, but those of us who love his illustrations can appreciate how far David Small has come to share his whimsical illustrations for kids.

Bull Rider

2010-01-14T08:13:00.002-06:00

Set in small town Nevada near Reno, this family story reads much like an old-time Disney movie with a modern setting. Cam O'Mara comes from a family of ranchers and bull riders, but he'd rather skateboard, a sport in which he excels. Things change, however, when his older brother, Ben, a championship bull rider, returns from the war in Afghanistan with a traumatic brain injury and the loss of an arm. Suddenly, the O'Maras focus all of their attention on Ben's long recovery and his long trips to Palo Alto for therapy.
As expected, Ben falls into a deep depression when faced with all of the things he can no longer do. His depression deepens forcing Cam to come up with a plan. He challenges Ben to continue his recovery with therapy if he can ride the bull, Ugly, and win $15,000 to help the family with Ben's medical costs.
Here's where the story turns into a Hallmark movie. Cam gives up his skateboarding for a time and secretly starts bull riding, Since he's underage, he registers for the competition under his long-dead cousin's name. There's no surprise when Cam pulls off the impossible even though he doesn't win the money due to "technicalities."

I did enjoy Bull Rider although it is very predictable. Cam is a three-dimensional character with his good aspects as well as his bad characteristics. Ben's trauma is authentic and his feelings truly reflect what could happen to a young man whose life is changed forever. Although secondary, the family's financial dilemma also rings true.

On occasion, I like to watch those old Disney films. I like happy endings. This book fills the bill.

"Do not" be deceived by the cover

2010-01-13T11:34:00.003-06:00

I had every intention of liking this book. I viewed a couple of Lara Zielin's online videos and found them to be a hoot. I thought the cover of this book looked...well, delicious! It appeared to be a rather light-hearted "girl" book or "chick-lit" if you will.

But it really didn't come off that way to me. The story centers around a senior girl, Emma, whose father and mother are both preachers at the Living Word Redeemer Church. Her mother's right to preach is being challenged by a rich and powerful man in the community who has sights on controlling the pulpit himself. Emma's love interest is interestingly, this man's son. Her arch enemy is this man's daughter.

The donuts come in when Emma decides she doesn't wish to go to a church-affiliated college and her dad informs her that he and her mother will not support her if she doesn't. Because of this, Emma decides to enter a feature story to the local paper's contest which would enable her to finance her own college education. She decides to find the story at the opening of the new Crispy Dream donut shop. Hordes of people have camped out for the opening event, and Emma knows she can find a great storyline in the throng of people. She soon meets a group of born again Harley Bikers and decides that where her story lies.

As you can see, there's a lot going on here. And little of it is light. This reminded me of Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature which I thought was a better book. This one is told as a narrative with periodic flashbacks that got a little irritating to me after awhile.

On a personal note, I was offended by the portrayal of Evangelical Christians in the book. Not all Evangelical Christians speak in tongues, roll on the floor, or expect God to speak at their baptisms. While I understand that this is the public's perception, I would like an author not to generalize such. I felt that there was a condescending tone in this regard.

Overall, I found this to be a quick, enjoyable read. It just wasn't the read that I had hoped.

2009-12-15T14:35:00.002-06:00

I like Rebecca Stead's books. I liked First Light when it was on the Lone Star List, and I also liked When You Reach Me which is on the 2010-2011 Lone Star List.

Time travel is always a great topic for a novel. I thought it was interesting that Ms. Stead referenced Madeleine L'Engle's book A Wrinkle in Time in this book which, of course, is all about time travel. In a way, there's a certain element of that in First Light as well.

In this book, sixth grader Miranda's life is centered on school, her friends (and enemies), the weird laughing man who is in the street on Miranda's way to and from school, her "job" working at Jimmy's sandwich shop during lunchtime, tying the knots that her mother's boyfriend taught her, and helping her mom prepare for her appearance on the $20,000 Pyramid game show on TV. All of this is fine until her mother's emergency apartment key is stolen and she receives a mysterious note:

I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own. I ask two favors. First you must write me a letter.

What friend? Why a letter? The notes keep coming and the events predicted occur. She realizes that someone from the future is sending the notes, but who could it be?

While the outcome isn't really surprising, it's how it all comes together that makes the book interesting. Ms. Stead has created a realistic 70s period book with three-dimensional characters. Students today may marvel at the fact that the kids have free reign to walk around New York City, but that's the way it was in the 70s. Also, the kids having the opportunity to leave school for lunch might be myth today, but not back then.

Miranda and her friends have the same thoughts and feelings of today. Does this person like me? Do I like them? Why doesn't this person like me? Why did my friend like me in the past but not now? Miranda doesn't have super powers, she's definitely not the prettiest, richest, or smartest, but her "ordinary" life changes once she receives the notes.

I just got an email that the Austin Public Library selected When You Reach Me as its Mock Newbery Award winner. I'm sure we'll see it on many "Best of the Best" lists as well.

Fentress, Texas

2009-12-02T13:11:00.005-06:00

It was my good fortune to hear Jacqueline Kelly speak at the Texas Book Festival last month. While not a "native" Texan, Dr. Kelly is a resident of Austin and Fentress, Texas. Apparently, Fentress is near Lockhart. Since I was once a very brief resident of Lockhart, I was surprised to hear that the town of Fentress existed!

Her first book, The Evolution of Capurnia Tate, is set in Fentress and (oddly enough :-) ) features quotes from Charles Darwin's Origin of Species. "Callie Vee" goes to the Lockhart Library to check out the book and is soundly denied by the librarian," I wouldn't keep such a thing in my library." I really laughed at that one.

Set at the turn of the last century, Callie Vee shows a great interest in science and is mentored by her once-distant grandfather when they find a new species of vetch and submit it to the Smithsonian. In the "spunky" girl footsteps of heroines like Jo March, Charlotte Doyle, and Katie John Tucker, Callie's aspirations to be a scientist are frowned upon. Since she is the only girl with six brothers, her mother has more domestic items on the agenda. At the end of the book, however, Callie realizes that she may not have much say in her future.

Dr. Kelly created a likable three-dimensional character in Callie Vee. Her interactions with her grandfather, friends, and brothers ring true. Kelly has reflected the time and place of the book well with references to segregation, the scorchingly hot summers, and the "social status" that the Tates enjoy.

I rarely ever accurately pick award winners, but I think you'll see this with a medal on it after ALA.

"What's up, Flapjack?"

2009-11-30T08:53:00.004-06:00

Owen Birnbaum is 57 percent fatter than the national average for a twelve-year-old boy. And smart. How smart? One point below genius. We learn this quickly in the book SLOB by Ellen Potter. Since Owen addresses the reader throughout the book, we learn a great deal about him. Except why he cherishes a slip of paper with the word "SLOB" written on it.

Because of Owen's weight, he is a target for bullies. Not just classmates, but also his PE teacher, Mr. Wooly. PE is nothing but torment for Owen, but when his precious Oreo cookies are stolen, Owen goes into action to seek out and confront the culprit. Because he is so bright, Owen does not have to spend a significant amount of time on school work; therefore, he has the time to invent creative "traps" for the thief as well as work on his project, Nemesis, which needs to reach two years back into history.

While part of this story deals with school-type bullying and typical middle school angst, there's also a darker side that gradually reveals itself as the story progresses and separates this from an average middle school tale to a more compassionate story.

What I loved most about the book, however, were the secondary characters. Andre, a student in Owen's PE class, really turns out to be a good guy even though Owen is initially confused as to Andre's motivations. "Jeremy," Owen's sister, is a member of GWAB (Girls Who Are Boys) and has the guts to prove it and will unfailingly defend Owen to the end. Another character, Mason Ragg, appears to be the "tough guy" because he allegedly has a switchblade in his sock which instills fear in the average middle schooler. An adult who befriends Owen is Nima. who makes the most delicious momos. (I don't know what they are, but Owen adores them!) Ellen Potter has created three-dimensional characters that we actually care about.

Thumbs up! An easy, enjoyable and often funny, but poignant read.

All the Broken Pieces

2009-11-20T09:19:00.004-06:00

"My Vietnam is

only

a pocketful

of broken pieces

I carry

inside me."

First of all, I must admit that I do not care for "novels in verse." I sometimes think an author doesn't have a narrative arc sufficient for a full-blown novel so it's called a "novel in verse" and published that way.

I found All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg one of those types of books. The story centers on Matt Pin, a boy airlifted out of Vietnam at the end of the war and brought to the United States. He must wrestle with demons of his past while assimilating into a world that doesn't seem to want him either.

For me, the book was initially difficult to follow. Although I lived during the Vietnam war, it took me a few pages to realize that this was really the theme of the book. I wonder if middle schoolers will want to read this book (other than the fact that it has 219 pages of fast-moving"text" and they can count it for their outside reading.) Will the kids really care?

As I read, I noticed that there were a few dog-eared pages at the beginning of the book (grrrr....), but they soon stopped. Did the reader(s) stop at that point or continue to read?

I rather felt like I was reading a story (?) of Kim's son from Miss Saigon. I'm anxious to see what the students think.

Four hundred year old CSI?

2009-11-18T08:13:00.002-06:00

"They remind us not to forget their lives and accomplishments - and not to lose our connection to the past. A broken tooth, a fractured bone, an arthritic back, and strands of brown hair--all of them whisper 'Rest with me for a moment or two. I have a story to tell.' These tales, written only in bone, await those with the patience to find them."

I just finished Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker. Ms. Walker wrote an earlier book that I really enjoyed, Fossil Fish Found Alive. I couldn't put that book down, and I found I had the same experience with her new book.

Two years ago during Jamestown's Quadricentennial, my husband I visited Virginia and went to the park. We'd been there before, but this time there had been a new discovery. Archaeologists had discovered the fort. Since we were there on a very cold winter day. the site had been covered in a tarp. We didn't get to see any excavating, but it was exciting to see the discovery. On our previous trip, we'd been told that the fort had been covered by the James River and been destroyed. This was exciting.

In the museum, we saw the chair that Queen Elizabeth II had brought for the celebration, but we also saw artifacts from the excavation including skeletons. Interestingly, this is the topic that Ms. Walker writes about in this book along with discoveries along the Chesapeake in Maryland as well.

It's amazing to read what archaeologists and forensic scientists can learn about a person, a place, and a time from a skeleton and burial rituals. Looking at skeletons, they can determine approximate age, whether the person was originally from Europe or Africa or lived in America (due to the corn in the diet - I won't be eating any more corn, thank you very much!), what kinds of work s/he did or even the cause of death. Ms. Walker also shows how a face was reconstructed using CT scans. Wow! Exciting stuff!

I'm glad the Lone Star Committee chose to put this book on the list. I think kids really enjoy nonfiction texts especially when they are interesting, well[-researched, and contain clear, descriptive photographs. This book has it all.

wintergirls

2009-11-17T09:02:00.002-06:00

Okay... okay... okay... I realize I haven't blogged in awhile. Moving and settling in our new house has taken a toll on my time for reading. I did, however, find time this past weekend to read wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.

" 'You're not dead, but you're not alive, either. You're a wintergirl, Lia-Lia, caught in between the worlds. You're a ghost with a beating heart. Soon you'll cross the border and be with me. I'm so stoked. I miss you wicked.' "

This is a quote from Cassie, Lia's former friend who is now dead from a ruptured esophagus due to bulimia. Yes, dead. Liz "sees" Cassie because of her extreme guilt from not answering Cassie's thirty three calls to her the night Cassie died. Both suffered from eating disorders due to their desire to be the smallest girl in high school, but this competition causes Cassie to lose her life and Lia to almost lose hers.

This isn't an easy book to read. Anderson takes you into Lia's head where she rationalizes her lack of eating as well as her self-mutiliation. Lia's parents are both very self-absorbed, and they seem to think that Lia is capable of handling her condition. It's only when Lia learns that her condition is not just about herself that she is able to come to grips with it.

Laurie Halse Anderson's prose reflects Lia's emotional roller coaster. Words and phrases are marked through and changed. There are Internet blog entries from girls like Lia. Sometimes the entries are short and terse. Others are more in a stream-of-consciousness style. Then there phrases repeated like a mantra. All are powerful.

If the Witness Lied

2009-09-15T09:04:00.002-05:00

Caroline Cooney has had more books on the Lone Star List than any other author. It used to be that at any time, you'd see a student reading one of her books, especially The Face on the Milk Carton. I haven't seen many students reading her books of late, but this might change with her latest, If the Witness Lied.

It may come to a shock to some readers, but not everyone want to be on a reality show. The Fountain kids realize this when a media circus is planned around them and the youngest child, Tris. Laura Fountain, their mother, learns that she has cancer after finding out that she is pregnant with her fourth child. Rather than saving herself with chemo treatments, she gives birth to Tris and dies shortly thereafter. When Tris is about two, the brake on the family's vehicle is released killing the children's father. The only witness, the kids' step-aunt Cheryl identifies Tris as the one who released the brake. The event fractures the family. Madison, the older daughter, leaves to live with friends. Smithy, the younger daughter, escapes to boarding school. Jack, the older son, sacrifices the sports and activities he loves to become Tris's caretaker.

The media loves the angle of the child who killed both parents, and Cheryl plans to capitalize on it. The kids, however, are horrified and try to come up with a plan to thwart her efforts. Amazingly, (and great authors can pull this off) both Madison and Smithy decide to return home on the same day.

Cooney sets the plot in only one day. Only a few times does the action seem tedious, but then that may have been intentional because the situation is tedious as well. There are several "holes" in the story that don't make sense, but the characters are likable enough that I was willing to overlook the implausibilities.

I liked If the Witness Lied, but I didn't think it was a great thriller. I cannot see how anyone will not figure out who actually caused the "accident" to happen. What may appeal to young readers, however, is how Cooney empowers the kids to try to solve their own problems.

Catching Fire!

2009-09-02T08:51:00.002-05:00

The Hunger Games was aptly named because it left you "hungering" for more. Catching Fire does the same thing. It starts with a smolder which gradually grows to a roaring blaze that doesn't quit, leaving the reader "on fire" for the final installment in this engaging trilogy.

In the beginning, I was afraid Ms. Collins wasn't going to follow The Hunger Games with as powerful a story. The "Victory Tour" for Katniss and Peeta really seemed to bog down the plot, but when the 75th anniversary of the games plays out, the action is non-stop.

If I hadn't been reading the library's copy, I would probably have thrown it against the wall at the end of the book. Notice that I don't say "conclusion," because there IS no conclusion. This is a cliffhanger worthy of "Who shot J.R.?" (Although I realize none of my students have a clue who J.R. was.)

My message to Ms. Collins - I WANT THE NEXT BOOK NOW!!!!!

Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous

2009-05-11T09:28:00.003-05:00

The Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous by Suzanne Crowley seems to be a cross between Greater Tuna and Harper Lee. The book is set in the fictional town of Jumbo, Texas but is really based on the West Texas town of Marfa. Jumbo is loaded with a variety of eccentric characters, just like Greater Tuna. However, Ms. Crowley's writing style is absolutely beautiful. Each sentence is perfectly crafted with gorgeous imagery.

Thirteen-year-old Merilee Monroe has Asperger's syndrome although this condition is not especially noted in the story. Her V.O.E. (Very Ordered Existence) is vitally important to her. She has a compulsiveness that is characteristic of this condition. She loves dragons and loves to draw them. She carries a notebook with her in order that she can write down stories, or at least parts of stories. She collects trash in the town. She attends school, eats the same lunch, etc. Everything must be in its proper order.

Since Jumbo is an artists' colony, there is a visiting poet who just happens to be a drunkard. He brings with him his very articulate son, Biswick. Biswick informs everyone that he suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome, although there doesn't seem to be any evidence of retardation in his use of language.. Another character who just "shows up" is Veraleen, a ranch cook, who always seems to have plans to leave, but never does. Both of these characters get under Merilee's skin and for the first time, her V.O.E. isn't as important as these two people in her life.

I liked The Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous. The story moves slowly, like the action in a small West Texas town, but the richness of the language and the quirkiness of the characters makes up for the slow pace.

Brutal

2009-05-04T10:04:00.004-05:00

I met Michael Harmon last fall at the Texas Book Festival. I haven't read his book Last Exit to Normal which is on the Tayshas list, but I was excited to see that he had another book when I saw the ARC of Brutal.

Harmon tackles one of the questions of the ages in Brutal. Why do high school cliques exist and what causes them? In this book, sixteen-year-old Poe Holly faces the same questions, but her conclusions are a bit different. She pegs the school administration as part of the problem.

In the story, Poe's emotionally distant mother, a medical doctor, leaves to work in South America for a year sending Poe to live with her father, a high school counselor in a small town California high school. Poe's never known her dad, and it is obvious he has no idea how to relate to his punk-rock, angry daughter.

Poe is befriended by the school nerd, Velveeta, who is a target for the school football hero bully, Colby. (Wonder why Harmon chose to name two of the characters for cheeses?) Poe and her soon-to-be boyfriend, Theo, get involved in a plot to expose Colby's brutality of Velveeta.

While some of the story is rather contrived, Poe's anger and voice are hauntingly authentic. She is a rebel with a cause and is willing to do what it takes to prove her point. Unfortunately for her, she also creates her own "clique" and realizes how easy it is to be elitist as well.

I really liked Brutal. It brought back many memories of high school - unfortunately, not the good ones.

Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas

2009-05-01T15:39:00.002-05:00

Publisher's Weekly suggests this book for ages 12 and up. Hmmm... maybe for a precocious 12.

Told through the authentic voice of fourteen year old, Anke, the story is shared through verse. Anke's father verbally, physically, and sexually abuses her older brother and sister, but totally ignores Anke, treating her like furniture. While not wanting the abuse, she does want to be acknowledged by her father. She's also confused that her sister and brother refuse to tell and get help while her mother tacitly stands by fully aware of the situation.

Anke's father disapproves of her participation in volleyball, but it is this participation that gives Anke the strength she needs to act when a horrific deed is played out in front of her.

This is a hard book to read and definitely not for everybody

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee

2009-04-29T15:28:00.004-05:00

Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut (aka Maybe) lives with her former beauty queen and serial marryer mother, Chessy, over her mother's charm school in Kissimmee, Florida. Maybe is the antithesis of Chessy. Instead of being high maintenance like her mother, Maybe is a slob who dyes her hair with Kool-Aid and wears oversized clothes. When Chessy's latest fiancé attempts to rape Maybe, she takes off to Los Angeles with her best friends, "Hollywood" Daniel Jones and "Ted" Thammasat Tantipinichwong Schneider to find her father. Unfortunately, the only clues Maybe has about her natural dad is the name "Gunnar," a picture, and the fact that he was involved in movie making in Los Angeles.

When the trio arrive in Los Angeles, Ted finds a job as a personal assistant to a Norma Desmond-type actress, "Hollywood" starts film school at USC and Maybe has nowhere to go and cannot find a job due to the fact that her purse was stolen with all of her money and identification. After awhile, however, she reunites with her favorite stepfather, Sammy, who is a wealthy, famous Hollywood photographer (Yes, I know this is a stretch, but stay with me.) When Maybe tastes the best tacos she's ever eaten, she gets a job with Jess. She gets the idea to run an add in Variety to find her father. Life is fairly good for awhile until "Hollywood" wins a documentary contest with a film about Maybe. Before the film is over, Maybe runs out of the theater, raises a ruckus, and is picked up by the police. She's devastated that "Hollywood" has betrayed her. Later she meets the man who may be her father and finds him to be a jerk. Then everything falls apart for Maybe until she sends her mother a plane ticket with the hush money her alleged father gives her.

I really liked Absolutely Maybe. The characters are rather quirky (especially "Hollywood" and Ted) but very likable. I really cared about what was happening to all of them and especially wanted to see what happened to Maybe. The storyline was rather over the top, but somehow Lisa Yee made it believable.

Since I read the advanced reader's copy, I wonder if "movie star" Teri Lesesne's home shows up in the final book?????

I'm hungry for some pad Thai... let's go!

Also Known as Harper

2009-04-27T09:39:00.003-05:00

I just finished the advanced reader's copy of Also Known As Harper by Ann Haywood Leal. (The cover art for the arc is much difference than the one pictured here.) I think readers who liked Pieces of Georgia by Jen Bryant or How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor might like this one as well.

Fifth grader and aspiring poet Harper Lee Morgan is homeless due to the fact that her whiskey-loving father has left the family and her mother has difficulty making the rent. While her mother pursues work, she leaves Harper to mind her little brother, Hemingway. Because Harper cannot attend school, she cannot submit her entries into the poetry contest which is her greatest desire in life.

While temporarily living in a cheap motel, Harper meets others who will change her life forever and make Harper understand that the power of her poetry is more encompassing than a simple contest.

Ann Haywood Leal has created a well-rounded character in Harper Lee. The voice and situations ring true from a fifth grade perspective. My heart also went out to little "Hem" who waits for his father's return every evening. Ms. Leal volunteers in a soup kitchen, and it is obvious that this book reflects her experiences there.

Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress

2009-04-23T10:43:00.005-05:00

Who isn't a "Work in Progress?"

Eighth grade soccer jock and wordsmith Brett McCarthy has a big mouth, strong opinions, and a BFF Diane. She also has an eccentric grandmother, Nonna who can't cook, but can bake anything as long as it contains chocolate. (My kind of woman!) Each summer she travels to Spruce Island, where she and her family live for a month without benefit of running water or electricity. This island is also home to a run-down non-working lighthouse.

After Brett pulls a prank and gets busted, she projects her anger onto another of the conspiratorial girls in her group by hitting the girl in the nose when she disses Nonna. All of sudden "good girl" Brett becomes the social equivalent of worm food and sinks lower into Dante's inferno (Read the book, you'll see what I mean.) She's suspended, and worse, she's kicked off of her beloved soccer team. But this isn't the worst. She and her BFF part company and her grandmother finds out that she has pancreatic cancer.

Interspersed through the book, Brett adds dictionary definitions to words that she uses to describe her emotions and the situations she is forced to face. While a different tactic to incorporate vocabulary than the Series of Unfortunate Events books, it works. Unforunately, the attempt to make the cover look like a dictionary doesn't work. I understand the cover art for the paperback will be different. (and better, I hope!)

This is a coming of age story. It doesn't end happily ever after, nor does it end sadly. Brett's voice is authentically a middle school girl whose world is changing faster than she'd like and in ways she doesn't necessarily desire. The pressures of "fitting in," dealing with overriding emotions, and reacting to different types of loss are simply hard for her to understand. However, Brett is fortunate to have a wonderful grandmother and a life-long buddy Michael to help her along the way.

I did question the authenticity of one part of the book. Do kids still IM? I think text messaging might have been more up-to-date.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

2009-04-17T09:22:00.002-05:00

My good friend, Barby Gregory, history teacher extraordinaire, recommended this book to me, and I'm thrilled that she did. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society is told through a series of letters centering on the main character, author Juliet Ashton. The story takes place after World War II when Juliet receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, a resident of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. For some reason, Dawsey has one of Juliet's books and inquires where he can find others by the author Charles Lamb. When Dawsey shares information about the German occupation of Guernsey during the war and the Literary and Potato Peel Society, Juliet is intrigued. Soon other letters from members of the group reach Juliet. Needing another idea for a book, she's off to Guernsey for an extended stay.

Mary Ann Shaffer creates such real, warm characters, and describes the island so vividly, it is reminiscent of how Lucy Maud Montgomery created the world of Anne Shirley on Prince Edward Island. Guernsey itself becomes one of the characters. I could picture the little town of St. Peter Port, the farms, the beach, and the quaint little houses.

I felt as if I knew the characters and the deceased "heroine" of the story, Elizabeth. The love of books and reading brought the characters together, but it is their endearing eccentricities that make this is really good read.

While there are no real surprises in the book, it was just a joy to sit and read letters from the day when people actually wrote letters instead of short, utilitarian emails or text messages.

Sadly, Ms. Shaffer died in February so there will be no more books from her. Her niece, Annie Barrows, finished the book, but what a joy it is.

Makes you hungry for some pie...

Starclimber

2009-04-07T13:13:00.004-05:00

Woo Hoo! I have waited for a LONG time for the publication of this book. I absolutely loved the first two books in the series, Airborn and Skybreaker. I even talked with Kenneth Oppel at last year's TLA about Starclimber hoping that he would give me a hint about the story.

Before leaving for this year's TLA in Houston, I nabbed this even before it was fully processed. (Although I did set off the security alarm at the Houston Public Library since I was carrying it with me!) Just like the other two, I couldn't put it down. Mr. Oppel doesn't disappoint.

In this installment, Matt has been selected as one of the first Canadian "astralnauts." The space ship is not a rocket, but more of an "elevator" into space. Kate, of course, accompanies to discover any space creatures that may be lurking about. Everything is compounded by the fact that there are "Babelites" who do not think that humans belong in space and are not above committing terrorist acts to stop the mission, there ARE some strange creatures that threaten the space craft, and Kate is betrothed to another young man in order to make her parents happy and allow her to participate in the mission. Needless to say, Matt is not happy about that!

In previous books, I was hard-pressed to settle on a particular time frame for the setting. In the third one, however, Oppel clarifies that it is the turn of the last century because Kate has become a suffragette and is highly influenced by Mrs. Pankhurst. Oddly enough, in this story, two women accompany the crew into space. How long did it take that to happen in the United States? Good for you, Kenneth!

Again, Oppel keeps the tension going throughout. There are always adventures when Matt and Kate are around. There's a bit more romance in this installment, however, which was a little surprising.

I thoroughly enjoyed Starclimber and highly recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed the others in the series.

Suck It Up!

2009-03-31T11:28:00.006-05:00

During Spring Break while I was enjoying hours of quality time in the airport and in the air, I actually finished a couple of books. I listened to the end of the novel Nation by Terry Pratchett. The audio won an Odyssey Honor Award. Since I didn't hear all of the books eligible, I don't honestly know if this was a good choice. I personally didn't care for the reader and found my mind wandering incessantly during the course of the book. In fact, I had to re-listen to a great many of the parts. As far as the book was concerned, I wasn't really excited about it either. Just like the children at the end of the book, I was disappointed in the ending. While it was probably an accurate way of discussing the "parallel" universe, I thought he used it only as a way to finish the book. If I'm going to give that many hours to a book, I want it to be really GOOD.

I did get to read Suck It Up by Brian Meehl. Several commented that it looked like a Twilight for boys since it also concerns vampires. Well...I don't really think so. First of all, it isn't really a romance, although it has a subtle romance commencing during the course of the story. I thought Meehl's puns were rather funny. Having a "coming out" day for vampires and a vampire drinking a soy-based "Blood Lite" showed a lot of humor. I wonder if all the kids will get it?

Currently I'm in the midst of reading the latest Kenneth Oppel book, Starclimber. I've waited for this one for a LONG time. I even talked with Kenneth Oppel at last year's TLA about it. He said it is really good, and I totally agree! He really doesn't disappoint! I haven't finished the entire book, but so far this is a MUST read.

Dewey

2009-03-09T09:45:00.003-05:00

I'm NOT a cat person. I wasn't sure that I wanted to read Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, but I got a great deal on Audible, so I thought, "Why not?"

While I really don't see a great many students clamoring to read this, I did find it enjoyable. There's a lot of sentimentality in the book which is to be expected when it is an animal story. I do agree that Dewey lived a long and charmed life.

Author Vicki Myron is speaking at the closing luncheon at TLA. It will be interesting to her her presentation.

Depressing!

2009-03-05T08:11:00.004-06:00

Each day the news is depressing. More people are out of work, homes are foreclosed, and an element of fear pervades our society. While all of this is horrible, it pales in comparison to the dystopia created by Susan Beth Pfeffer in the book The Dead and the Gone.

Seventeen-year-old Alex and his sisters are alone at home in New York City when an asteroid strikes the moon, changing its orbit, and causing massive tidal waves and destruction of coastal areas. The kids' father is in Puerto Rico for a family funeral, and their mother has gone to work in Queens as an operating room technician. Their older brother, a Marine, has been called away to active duty.

As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that the parents and brother will never return, and it falls on Alex to provide for his sisters without any money. Fortunately for the three, their school and church provide them some structure and support.

This is a not a story for the faint of heart. It is gritty, painful, and often gruesome. Set against the background of our own country's problems, it all adds up to a very depressing read.

Kathleen Kent

2009-03-04T08:08:00.003-06:00

At last week's DAISA meeting at The Shelton School, I was fortunate to hear Kathleen Kent, author of The Heretic's Daughter. Ms. Kent is the tenth generation descendant of Martha Carrier, one of the first tried and hanged as a witch during the Salem Witch Trials.

Ms. Kent is fascinating. In her talk, she was eloquent, elegant, and enthusiastic. It is obvious she has great passion for her subject matter. It is also evident that she did her research. Her detailed explanations were so vivid that I felt I was standing and watching the events in Puritan Massachusetts.

Ms. Kent is currently writing a "prequel" about Martha's husband, Thomas Carrier. This also sounds like a must read.

Loving historical fiction and American history as I do, I cannot wait to read this book.

I, Q: Independence Hall

2009-02-17T13:09:00.002-06:00

If you like action, plot twists, and international intrigue, do I have the book for you! Roland Smith's new series, I,Q. The first book is entitled Independence Hall, and it is a page-turner. Quest (aka Q) and his new stepsister, Angela, reluctantly follow their newly married parents on a national tour. Their parents make up a vocal group called Match whose popularity rivals the Jonas Brothers. Angela soon realizes that they are being followed. She and Q discover that members of the Israeli Mossad are after her because her deceased mother was a Secret Service agent who may have turned to terrorism. Riveting!

Roland Smith also has a website devoted to the series http://www.iqtheseries.com/.